So Far Yet So Close
by XxGTSCxX
Summary: It wasn't a lie. The two had drifted apart after so many years and so much had happened while they were apart and yet, they are closer than ever. Now, they'll have to overcome the odds that were stacked against them over the 9 years. (The setting is in modern Japan). [Note: Previous title was Am I Normal?]
1. The Blonde Girl

Once upon a time, there was a boy by the name of Tsuna. He lived a sheltered life due to his ability. An ability that was abnormal to all humans; the ability to wield fire. He was raised just like any normal kid, parents brought him up as an only child, doted, loved, cared for, until he was 7 years old. He was sleeping just as any other day he would at that time. Then, smoke started invading his lungs and heat too. It was intense but he found it strangely comforting. He ran around the house looking for his parents but there were flames and smoke everywhere. Soon, he could walk no more and collapsed in the middle of the living room of his apartment.

Days later, he woke in the hospital, nurses and doctors awed at how such a young child was able to survive such a deadly fire. His parents died and he was adopted by the very man who found him in the remains of the flame, a man called Igneel. Weird name, he thought but really he wasn't in the mood to think about that, he was still grieving over his loss and well, Igneel wasn't the most comforting person there for being a 60 year old closing into retirement from the fire department and having 0 experiences with kids. Igneel would just prepare food for the day and leave it in the fridge for the boy to heat it up himself to eat before leaving for work. Tsuna on the other hand would just go out and play (his only way to cope with his loss) once Igneel left and made sure he came back before the old man did.

One day, while he was out fooling around, he was hanging out on a tree (literally), he heard a bunch of kids bullying a blonde girl. He strained his ear to pick up their conversation (too lazy to get off the tree) and found the kids voices familiar (they often played there).

"Hey, hey, look who's here? It's the 'Princess'!" Sting teased sarcastically.

"What cha' doing out here alone? Won't your mommy be worried?" Minerval continued the sarcastic game.

"Oh wait! No… I'm sorry, I forgot your mommy died last month and daddy don't care about you…" Sting dealt the heavy blow with fake pity and although he heard no sobbing or crying, Tsuna could taste the saltiness in the air and realized that the girl was quietly crying.

Unable to put his good conscience away, Tsuna hopped down the tree and landed softly onto the grass as though he was weightless.

"Hey, what are you weaklings doing?" He question, voice filled with ice and arrogance.

"Huh? Who the hell are you?" Minerval questioned back with the equal amount of venom.

"He's the kid who survived the flames at district 12." Rogue answered for him while continuing to stroke his two cats, Fro and Lector (to be more precise, Lector is Sting's cat). He had been quiet throughout the whole teasing.

"Ah~ The demon kid huh? You really live up to your name don't you? Abnormal pink hair and not to mention to survive a fire outbreak, you're a freak." Sting insulted as he stuck a finger out reinforcing that the term 'freak' was directed at him.

"So?" Tsuna stood firm with his legs separated, hands crossed and a poker face, "At least I have _true_ power unlike you weaklings who gather in a group just to _fake_ power."

Pissed, Sting went into a battle stance, ready to pound the boy, but Minerval put a hand forward to tell him not to. There was an eerie silence that followed.

"Let's go." Rogue suggested, breaking the silence in the process.

"But-" Sting tried to argue but was cut off by Rogue's persistently cold tone.

"Now." Rogue left no space for argument.

Turning around to give one last glare at the pink haired boy, Sting left with Minerval and Rogue.

Turning around to leave, Tsuna was stopped when the blonde haired girl whimpered out a, "Thank you..."

The boy turned to face her and as though he had never seen a girl before and he blushed as he saw the beauty in front of him. Her fringe was a little disorientated due to what he guessed is her roughly wiping her tears away, but it could not hide her beautiful brown eyes. Her cheeks were stained in pink as she was a shy person and she did not know how to thank her savior. Tsuna just assumed that the 'stain' was just due to the sunset.

"A-Ah…" Tsuna tried to reply as cool as possible but found it impossible to stray his eyes away from her face. Then, an image of a certain silver haired purple eyed girl invaded his head and he immediately looked away from her.

He turned around and ran away, as far as he possibly could from the girl.

* * *

Okay, my first time attempting a NaLu fanfic. I know that a lot would wonder why is the guy's name Tsuna, well all would be explained in the next chapter =). Please review =)


	2. A New Name?

Tsuna opened the door to his new home, it was already dark. Although he was adopted by someone he never met (he had no next to kin), he found it strangely comfortable. It was nothing like the apartment he once lived in (the new place is dirty, old, and messy), but he still liked it. As he stepped into the house, he froze when he saw Igneel's shoes already placed nicely at the front door, Igneel was already home.

"Where have you been boy?" Igneel questioned with a gruffy voice while leaning against the corridor wall, hands crossed.

"Uh… Out?" Tsuna tried his luck but knew he failed miserably when he saw Igneel raise a brow.

"Then who's that?" Igneel continued.

"Who?" It was Tsuna's turn to question now.

Following Igneel's gaze, he turned to look behind him to find the girl he saved just now standing behind their house's front gate, peering over and quickly hiding when she saw him turn. Sighing, he turned back to Igneel to explain.

"I uh… she is a girl I saved from a bunch of bullies who were bullying her."

"…" Igneel said nothing but just raised his brow again this time with the expression as though that was impossible.

"What?! It's true!" Tsuna tried to prove.

"I-It's true… he helped me…" The girl mumbled out just loud enough for the old man to catch.

Tsuna turned in surprise to the girl to see her still hiding behind the gate and then back to Igneel who had his eyes closed like he was considering something dire. Opening his eyes, he gestured for the kids to get into the house before turning and walking deeper into his sanctuary.

Tsuna turned to the girl and then to Igneel in shock before proceeding into the house but turned back to grab the girl when he realized she wasn't following. The girl let out a small yelp as she let herself be dragged in. When they entered, Tsuna noticed that the girl had the same expression as him (awe and curiosity) when he first stepped into the house and felt obliged to take on the role of Igneel who showed him around the house on his first day.

"Com'ere! I'll show you around!" Tsuna announced as he grabbed the girl's hand and gently pulled her along (he felt like she was really fragile and was unable to be rough).

"A-ah!" The girl yelped as she let herself be pulled along (again).

After exploring for about 1 hour, the boy found the girl stuck at the study room with all the books and he frowned (it was the last place he wanted to be in). Quietly, he walked up to her since she seemed like she was concentrating on the book and he did not want to spoil the lovely expression she held while she read.

"Hey." He called out softly to lessen the impact of intrusion.

"Oh, hi." The girl smiled sweetly at his presence and Tsuna couldn't help but feel his heart skip a beat.

"Oh, uh, Igneel said that dinner's ready!" Tsuna explained with a big smile spread across his face and that made the girl blush (being born into a rich family made it hard for her to make friends like that).

"Come on!" Tsuna urged as he pulled her along again and the girl followed with the book in hand.

At the dining table, Igneel sat cross legged with his hands crossed as he waited for the kids to make their way down. He was deep in thought as he tilted his head up to look towards the ceiling. _Layla, was this what you wished for?_ The heavy stampede from the two kids (mostly Tsuna) snapped him back to reality.

"Go wash your hands!" Igneel commanded before Tsuna had a chance to land his hands on the food and Tsuna quietly complied with a sour face while the girl just followed with a comforting hand on his back.

Igneel stared at the girl while they settled down and turned to look at Tsuna as though expecting some sort of introduction. After a while of silence, Tsuna got the drift of what he was supposed to do and turned to the girl.

"Oh, this is my new father, Igneel, Igneel Dragoneel." Tsuna began his introduction.

"Hi." The girl bowed a little in a respectful manner.

Turning to his new father, he pointed at the girl and continued with her introduction, "And this is-" but was stuck half way realizing that he still didn't know her name, "Uh…"

Catching the drift a lot quicker than Tsuna ever had, she continued for him, "My name is Lucy, Lucy Heartfilia."

"As I thought…" Igneel heaved as he spoke knowingly.

"Huh? As you thought?" Tsuna questioned, but was ignored by Igneel who had started eating already.

Annoyed, Tsuna also started digging into his food. It went silent for a while until Lucy decided the atmosphere was too stale for her taste and decided to break it.

"Uh, what's your name?" She asked turning to the boy who at that moment had his mouth stuffed with food and unable to speak, so, he took a nearby pen and scribbled on the table, earning himself a glare from Igneel.

"Na…tsu?" Lucy read as Tsuna wrote.

Wide eyed, he read his own writing and was shocked to see he had wrote his name wrongly. Igneel stifled a laugh that nearly escaped his lips while turning away.

"N-NO!" Tsuna chocked out as he tried to swallow hard but failed horribly and started coughing hard.

Lucy quickly grabbed a glass of water for the boy to drink and while he did, she patted his back to sooth him. Igneel watched the interestingly amusing scene with a raised brow, surprised that the girl was so well nurtured. When Tsuna finally calmed down and recovered, Igneel spoke.

"Well, I'll just make your new name Natsu then."

"Huh?" Tsuna stared at Igneel in shock and so did Lucy.

"I just went through your official documents today and was wondering if I should give you a new identity to start over. Natsu Dragneel. That'll be your new name." Igneel announced.

"What?" Tsuna mumbled.

Lucy stared at Tsuna, his eyes unvisible due to his fringe and suddenly, he burst.

"MY NAME IS MASHIRO TSUNA, NOT NATSU DRAGNEEL!" With that said (or yelled), he dashed out of the house.

"Natsu…" Lucy whimpered (she is more used to Natsu than Tsuna) as she saw Tsuna's retreating figure.

"Don't worry, it's not your fault." Igneel comforted. "He just needs time to think. He'll be back in time."

Lucy stared at the opened door, hoping that he is right.

* * *

Okay, Chapter 2 done =) Please review so I can improve and give you guys better stories ^^


	3. Natsu Dragneel

The soon to be Natsu Dragneel sat in front of two grave stones that read 'Mashiro Takagi' and 'Mashiro Sawako'. They were perfect loving parents. Tsuna recalled how his mother would caress his cheeks and tell him how much she loved him despite his naughty self after he was scolded by his father for fooling around. Or how his father nursed his wounds after he injured himself while trying to master how to ride a bike. His father would often tell him that falling is a part of getting stronger and he would immediately stop crying.

He couldn't help and started to cry but immediately stopped when he heard approaching footsteps. Wiping the tear tracks from his cheeks quickly, he turned and found Lucy standing there like an angel sent by his parents to nurse his hurting heart.

"What did you come for?" Tsuna couldn't help but sound cold and he mentally slapped himself for doing so.

"Uh… Igneel-" Lucy tried explaining but was cut off by Tsuna.

"DON'T MENTION THAT GUYS NAME!" Tsuna couldn't help but burst at that old man's name.

Then, he heard sniffing and immediately turned to see Lucy at the brink of tears.

"Ehhh?! Uh… Uh…" Tsuna desperately tried to find something that would calm her down.

Then, without thinking, he took out a match box from his pocket and made fire. At first, Lucy calmed down a little to see what was he planning to do but immediately started wailing again when she saw him put his finger into the fire.

"Shh… Look." Tsuna comforted.

Slowly calming down, she looked, the fire slowly enveloped his hands and Lucy gasped, but for some reason, rather than looking fierce, the flames seemed calm and elegant. Lucy awed at the sight and reached out to touch it. Tsuna stepped back and told her to wait. After a while of concentrating, he told her to try again, and she did. It was warm and soft, very comforting to the touch, she scoped some of the flame onto her palm and brought it closer to herself but it disappeared the moment it was out of Tsuna's touch. Disappointed, she looked to Tsuna again and was curious on why he looked so shocked.

"What's wrong Tsuna?" Lucy asked.

"N-nothing…" Tsuna hesitated for a moment before gathering the courage to ask, "I mean… aren't you… afraid?"

Lucy blinked twice as though that was a stupid question before answering, "No."

Tsuna blushed. She was the first person to treat him as per normal after seeing something this abnormal.

_He once knew a girl by the name of Lisanna, they were childhood friends and she would often go over to his house and play. They were happy people, she trusted him and told him all her secrets and he would do the same. After the accident, he realized that he was not only immune to fire but had the ability to control them when he had skin contact with them. He was awed with his own ability and started playing around with them whenever he had the chance and he would use his abnormally strong senses to warn him if anyone was approaching his ward. He was probably too used to Lisanna's company as he did not notice that she entered his ward once while he was playing with fire._

_"Ah! Fire!" Lisanna screamed._

_"No! Wait!" Tsuna tried to calm her down but he was too late, the nurses and doctors rushed in._

_Luckily, he had already put out the fire and the adults just looked around in confusion. Lisanna seemed to have finally calmed down and told the doctors that she must've been seeing things. After the adults left, Lisanna turned to Tsuna and stared with pure hatred in her eyes. Tsuna felt lost and confused._

_"W…What?" He asked slowly._

_"You're horrible." Lisanna scolded with tears in her eyes._

_"Huh?" Tsuna felt so lost he like he couldn't swim back to shore even if he tried._

_"You were the one who started the fire weren't you?!" Lisanna accused._

_"WHAT?! NO!" Tsuna yelled but immediately covered his mouth and stared at the door to see if any adults were going to charge in again._

_Lisanna seemed to be on the same train of thought as she turned to the door as well. Turning back, they both sighed in relief and unison and continued._

_"How could you kill your own parents?! That's so inhumane!" Lisanna continued to accuse, ignoring Tsuna's previous denial._

_"I'm telling you! I didn't start that fire!" Tsuna continued to fight for his reason in a hushed tone._

_"I know you got into a fight with your parents but still! There are things called limits!" Lisanna continued without listening._

_Tsuna felt his heart sink. She didn't believe him and he knew that there is no point in telling the truth when the person won't believe him. Without trying anymore, Tsuna's eyes went cold and lifeless as he turned to Lisanna with a smirk and said,_

_"So what if that is so?"_

Turning back to the present, Tsuna saw Lucy still playing with the fire in his hands. Unable to help himself, he smiled a little.

Lucy noticed and asked him, "What's wrong this time?"

Tsuna shook his head and replied with a smile, "Nothing."

Lucy giggled and this time, it was Tsuna's turn to ask what's wrong.

"Nothing, it's just that if your name is really changed to Natsu, it would be a really fitting name." Lucy explained.

Tsuna frowned for a bit and then turned back to the blonde, "You think so?"

"Yeah!" Lucy reassured.

"I guess… I'll give it a try." Tsuna agreed as he tugged his head between his legs that were brought up to his chest. "Natsu Dragneel…" Tsuna tested the name on his tongue. _Maybe it won't be too bad to try…_

* * *

Okay, Chapter 3, a little background info on Tsuna's relation with Lisanna. From the next chapter onwards, I'll be calling Tsuna, Natsu. Review?


	4. 9 Year Blank

Natsu stared at the ceiling of his room. He was lying on his bed with headphones on listening to remixes of his favorite songs. The current song that was playing was Somebody to Love, the remix version featured in Usher's album. It was definitely better than the original version. It has been 9 years since he met the blonde girl. He missed her so much.

He closed his eyes hoping to catch a good nap but snapped his eyes back open when an image of the 7 year old blonde popped into his head again. _Urg! She'll definitely look so much more different than that by now! She probably already has some hot and rich boyfriend that I could never compare to… _he thought, shooting himself on the foot. Grimacing in pain, he continued to imagine about Lucy and what she would probably be doing by now. _Heck, she probably won't even remember me anymore… _He shot himself once again on his own foot.

Turning over, he remembered about the faithful day 9 years ago.

_"Hey…" Natsu avoided eye contact with Igneel._

_"He says he's willing to try the new name Natsu!" Lucy helped him announce._

_"Is that so?" Igneel had a gentle and all-knowing expression._

_Suddenly, a car screeched to a stop just outside their front porch. Everyone turned to it and a butler stepped out of it._

_"Lady Lucy, please come here, your father is worried!" The butler pleaded._

_Lucy ducked behind Natsu in her silent way of saying no. Natsu was confused and had no idea what was going on. However, Igneel walked over and picked the blonde girl up in one swift swipe and handed her over to the butler, ignoring all her protests. Natsu raged at his rough handling and ran over yelling for him to release her. What happened next shocked him._

_"No!" Lucy yelled, directing at Natsu, "I'm okay, I'm okay. It's okay."_

_Natsu did not understand the weird look she was giving him until he saw his own hand that had reached into his pocket for the match box. She smiled weakly to reassure him she'll be fine as she let herself be taken away. Natsu frowned sadly at the retreating vehicle, then, when it was completely gone, he turned to Igneel and scowled._

_"You called them over didn't you?!"_

_"And so what if I did?" Igneel confessed without remorse._

_"WHY?!" Natsu remembered how the kids back at the park said that her father didn't care about her._

_Igneel raised a brow as if that was a stupid question and replied coolly, "It's late and she's at a stranger's place. You should be glad I did not send her back immediately."_

_With that said, Igneel turned on his heels and walked back into the house, leaving a conflicted Natsu at the porch. Then, as though he forgot something, he turned back and explained._

_"We're leaving in 2 days' time, start packing."_

_Bewildered, Natsu yelled, "WHAT?!"_

_Igneel sighed, he was tired of the boys questions, " I said I'll give you a new start didn't I? Just changing your name won't help, we're moving."_

_"B-But, what about your job?!" __**And Lucy?**__ He quietly added behind._

_"I have officially retired today, but don't worry; my bank has enough money to last a lifetime if we spend wisely." He explained lethargically._

_"Oh…" __**That explains why he was back early... **__Natsu digested._

_On the day they moved out, Natsu couldn't help but regret not saying goodbye to Lucy. He'd sneak out of the house whenever he could and would search the park for Lucy, but she never showed. Closing his eyes, he burned the image of the blonde with her beautiful brown double eyelid eyes into his head, not forgetting the smile she wore when she played with his fire. He smiled._

Snapping his eyes back open, he noticed it was evening already. He heard the front door open as he sat up and placed his headphones on the table beside him.

"Igneel!" He called out as he rushed down the stairs to meet the grumpy old man.

For a 70 year old, Igneel was very fit and insisted on working small jobs even though he was retired and Natsu could do nothing to change that old man's mind. Sometimes, when he is bored or free, Natsu would go and help his old man out. But today, what made him so eager was something else.

"Tomorrow, we're gonna visit mum and dad right?!" Natsu did a double take with a big grin on his face.

"*sigh* Yes, yes we are." Igneel confirmed for the third time that day.

Natsu jumped like a crazed man along the corridor yelling, "Yes!" and "Oh Yeah!"

Igneel just shook his head with a small smile on his face as he walked in. At the dining table, Natsu was rushing through his meal as though it would've speed time up for him while Igneel continued eating with composure. Natsu had been itching for this day to come for a very long time now, sure he wants to see his parents but more importantly, he needed a certain blonde in his life.

"So, when are you gonna start High school?" Igneel's gruffy voice penetrated Natsu's train of thoughts quite painfully.

"After the weekends…" He answered gingerly sucking on his chopsticks.

Igneel let out a smirk. They both knew it was a miracle that he even made it to High school and were highly appreciative of it.

When Natsu went to his new elementary school, he was immediately registered as a problematic kid due to his hair color. Things became worse when he beat up a group of kids for insulting Igneel. No one sided with him like Lucy did and he felt like his whole was crashing down. Middle school felt better, he entered a club called FairyTail (weird name he thought) they were heartwarming people. They were mostly just partying all day but it was the most popular club in the school, people looked up to them even though they all had unique hair colors and such. Natsu felt at home with them and was thrilled when he managed to enter the same school as his club mates. But deep down, he still missed Lucy.

"Ah~!" Natsu squealed as he stretched after stepping out of the car.

Igneel looked at the teen with a brow raised. He was so much different from literally one second ago when the car was still moving. Igneel took out the bouquet of flowers and some incense from the car before heading over to the specific gravestones they were there for.

A sudden solemn atmosphere was erected as Natsu knelt in front of the gravestones. Igneel passed the bouquet to Natsu before starting to light the incense. Natsu noticed that the gravestones were quite clean for a 9 year blank but nevertheless swiped the leaves and dust off the stone tablets before placing the bouquet on the slab. He moved a little to the side so that Igneel would have some space to kneel before taking some incense over.

_Mum, dad, I'm sorry for not visiting you for over 9 years. It was tough for the first 6 years, but it was fun from then on! I made new friends, new bonds and I made it to the same High school as them! Things are looking up. But, there is still someone I wish to see and be with. We are worlds apart, but I can't help but feel like things are incomplete without her. I sound stupid don't I?_

Just then, a gentle breeze caressed his cheeks and he assumed that his parents were telling him to go for it. Smiling gently, he thanked them. He turned to Igneel to see that he was long done and waiting for him. Laughing apologetically, he stood up. Igneel shrugged and started packing. Natsu was about to help when he heard footsteps and looked up, it was someone who was once so important to him he thought he would die without her. But, being there at that moment proved him wrong. The two people stared at each other in disbelief. Igneel noticed the atmosphere and excused himself.

Finally, Natsu spoke, "Lisanna…"

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Yep, cliff hanger =) I'm probably gonna be able to update only during the weekends but in exchange for that, I'll see if I can upload chapters at a time. And I would still upload if I can during the weekdays, so please be patient, thx ^^ (ONE FOLLOWER AND 2 FAVORITES ^^ NOT MUCH BUT I STILL APPRECIATE IT! THX GUYS!)


	5. Lisanna

"Tsuna…" The name escaped her lips so nostalgically.

Natsu felt his stomach churn. He was supposed to be angry at the girl in front of him; she didn't believe him when he needed trust the most. But he was shocked at himself; he actually wanted her to understand and- He stopped himself, _and what? _He wondered before continuing.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, cold and harsh as ever.

She went silent for a while before answering, "To visit your parents."

That explained why the gravestone was unusually clean.

"I see…" Was all that came out.

Silence engulfed them once more. Natsu contemplated on whether he should give another shot on explaining what happened 9 years ago when Lisanna spoke up.

"Hey… about the accident 9 years ago…"

He winced. It still hurt to remember their conversation.

"Did you really burn the house down?" She asked.

Natsu took it as his opportunity to redeem himself and he took it, "No. I didn't."

Lisanna's expression softened and she smiled. _Wait, she believes?_ Natsu felt his hope rise and Lisanna continued.

"I see… I should've known that it wasn't possible." Lisanna took a deep breath and stretched, releasing all the pent up doubt she had for all those years, "I'm sorry."

Natsu couldn't help but return a smile, playfully sounding hurt, he corrected her, "By the way, my name is no longer Tsuna, it's Natsu now."

"Eh?!" Lisanna was genuinely shocked and Natsu laughed.

"Natsu huh…" Lisanna tested the name on her tongue, "It really suits you huh!" She commented, beaming with a smile.

_"Nothing, it's just that if your name is really changed to Natsu, it would be a really fitting name." Lucy explained._

The play back reminded him of why he was essentially so ecstatic to come back for.

"Sorry Lisanna! I gotta go!" Natsu announced back as he ran pass the silver haired girl.

Lisanna, looking dumbfounded, screamed back, "Huh?! What?! Wait! What about-" He was gone.

Sighing to herself, she mumbled, "That's so like you…" As she stared at the now empty path that the boy once ran pass.

The boy was staring at the rough sketch of a map in his hand, courtesy of Igneel, needless to say it was a map to Lucy's house. _Right, left, left._ Concentrating on the map, he did not notice a car coming until it screeched to a stop behind him. Laughing apologetically, he walked over to the car to apologize with a sheepish smile.

"Sorry 'bout that, I wasn't looking." He started.

"Please be careful next time!" The driver raged.

They paused and stared at each other, then, in unison, they both screamed while pointing at each other, "AH! IT'S YOU!"

The driver, though looking considerably older, was the same as the one who picked Lucy up 9 years ago.

"Wait, you remember me?" Natsu questioned. He had grown a lot in 9 years and was shocked that the man remembered.

The butler pointed at his own head and said, "Hair."

"Ah…" That explained a lot, "Wait! You're Lucy's butler right?!" Natsu confirmed.

"Y-Yeah…" The butler assured.

"Can you take me to her? You're heading back right now right?! I need to tell her something!" He begged as he shook the driver by his shoulder.

"Oh, you don't know? She ran away from home not long after graduating from Middle school." The butler explained hesitantly.

"SAY WHAT?! Where?! Why?!" He flooded the butler with questions while, once again, shaking him.

"S-she g-got i-into an a-argument with M-Master!" The butler stumbled the words out.

Letting go of the butler, he took steps back and tried to process what he heard. _Lucy ran away. That shy and fragile girl ran away from home…_

"N-No way…" He felt his world collapsing. He let her slip by once again. He rested his back onto a nearby wall for support and slowly started to slouch down into a ball. The butler stared at the broken teen not knowing what he should do, then, after considerable consideration, he held out a paper. The teen looked up with dead eyes, wondering what it was.

"It's the Lady Lucy's phone number. Apparently, she had blocked Master's number and mine too. But, if you're lucky enough, you might be able to get to her." The butler explained.

Natsu's face suddenly beamed as he leapt to his feet and grabbed the paper while screaming, "Thanks old man! You're the best!"

"O-Old man?" The butler felt insulted.

"Oh, and you might wanna adjust your wig, it's slipping." Natsu advised.

"Ah!" The butler yelped as he tilted the wig back into place, flushing in embarrassment as he did so.

It was already night fall by the time Natsu reached back to where Igneel had parked his car; he was surprised that the old man was actually waiting outside the car with a cigarette in mouth.

"Hey!" Natsu called out.

Igneel said nothing but just nodded in acknowledgment.

"You know, no matter how fit you are, you're still a 70 year old man, and even though it's spring already, it's still cold." Natsu reasoned.

"Haha… I tried reasoning with him too…" Said a familiar voice.

"Lisanna! Didn't you go home already?" Natsu asked in surprise.

"Yeah… but I saw him waiting in the cold and thought I'd accompany him…" Lisanna explained.

"Oh… Thanks." Natsu thanked awkwardly.

Silence followed.

"Hop on, I drive you home." Igneel instructed the purple eyed girl as he put out his cigarette.

Complying, Lisanna took a seat behind while Natsu unwillingly made his way to his seat in front, dreading the long ride ahead. As he was strapping his seatbelt on, Igneel handed the boy some sleeping medicine.

"I couldn't find any motion sickness pills at the convenient store but they had sleeping pill, it should help a little." Igneel explained.

Taking it over appreciatively, Natsu joked, "I guess it wasn't as convenient as they said huh?"

Lisanna giggled and Igneel smiled.

There was a short pause before Igneel continued, "I forgot to buy water…"

Natsu and Lisanna looked at the pills at hand with a sweat drop.

"AH! TO HELL WITH IT!" Natsu yelled as he forced the pill down his throat and winced at the bitterness that was left on his tongue.

Minutes later, Natsu fell asleep and Lisanna reached her house. Disappointed that Natsu wasn't awake to see her off, she smiled sadly.

Noticing her disappointment, Igneel took out a piece of paper, "This is the boy's number. Be sure to call. He may not seem it, but he actually enjoys your presence more than he lets on."

Lisanna blushed a little as she took the paper over, making a small bow in gratitude.

Entering the house, Lisanna opened the paper and saved the number into her handphone and contemplated on roughly what time would be best to make the call. One hour later, she tried, nervously, she waited for Natsu to pick up.

"*Click* Hello?"

Lisanna gasped, it was a girl's voice.

Natsu was in his room as he opened the slip of paper with his phone at hand.

"Huh?" Natsu stared at the paper, "Isn't this my number?"

* * *

Haha! Another cliff hanger ^^ Review pls~


	6. Bitter Reunion

"Hello?" Lucy asked again, wondering why there wasn't any response.

Silence continued.

Annoyed, Lucy warned, "Okay, if this is a prank call, I'm hanging up!"

Still, the silence continued. Sighing, she hung up. _What was that about?_

Lisanna hung up, wondering who the owner of the voice was. _Was that his girlfriend?_ She sat in front of her phone, contemplating what to do next.

Natsu sat frustrated on his bed as he stared at his phone and the piece of paper. No matter how he looked at it, it was his number. Frustrated, he hopped off the bed and groaned in annoyance. He went into the kitchen to grab a cup of water and found Igneel sitting in front of the TV. Taking a double take on what Igneel was wearing, he yelled.

"IGNEEL?! WHAT ARE YOU WEARING?!"

Igneel jumped, mildly but surely, "What do you think? I'm wearing clothes." He growled out in anger for the sudden outburst.

"It's 11 degrees! For petes sake! You're 70! Get something warmer! T-shirts and shorts won't cut it!" He pointed at himself as a model, "Something like this!" a long sleeve hoodie and jeans.

Sighing, Igneel made his way back into his room, as he passed the boy he saw the slip of paper he was holding.

"What's that?" He questioned.

"Huh? Oh, nothing… It's supposed to be Lucy's number, but for some reason it's my own…" Natsu answered, scratching his head.

Igneel was dumbfounded and did a mental face-palm at his own mistake. Saying nothing more, he walked away, _I'd better get that paper back…_

The next day, Natsu decided to go look for the butler again for Lucy's number and begged Igneel to fetch him back. Igneel only agreed to do so out of guilt.

"Okay Igneel… Just a suggestion… can we stock up on the motion sickness pills?" Natsu moaned.

"Okay, okay." Igneel promised.

Dropping Natsu off at Lucy's mansion, Igneel made his way to Lisanna's place.

"*Ding Dong* Yes?!" Lisanna's muffled voice boomed through the door.

Igneel said nothing but just waited for the door to open.

"Uncle Igneel! What a surprise!" Lisanna was taken aback by the sudden visit. "Weren't you here just yesterday?"

"Yeah… about the paper I gave you yesterday-" Igneel stopped the moment he saw a figure behind the girl.

Back at Lucy's mansion, Natsu steeled himself to see Lucy's father (He had been caught sneaking around the place and was taken to see the landlord, namely, Jude Heartfilia).

"*Knock knock*"

"Come in."

"Hi… Sir." Natsu started hesitantly.

"What were you doing on my land?" The blonde man questioned.

"Well… I _was_ looking for someone…" Natsu tried his luck.

The man raised a brow and continued, "Who?"

"Um… You probably won't believe me… but the thing is… I don't know his name…" Natsu pushed his luck.

"Sure you do." The man said sarcastically, "And I don't know what my name is."

_Oh my god, he has a sense of humor!_ Natsu thought to himself while holding on to his indifferent face.

Turning on his heels to face the window behind him, Jude Heartfilia continued, "I want you off my land immediately, never to step on it again. If you do, I can't guarantee a safe return."

Nodding, Natsu took his leave. Just as he stepped out of the study room, his heightened sense of hearing picked up Jude's conversation with whoever that was on the other end of the intercom.

"Have you arrived at the destination?" Jude questioned.

"Yes Sir. Though, there is nobody and no traces of anyone who has been here." Natsu recognized his voice, it was the butler.

"Good, stay there, she should be back today. She'll never miss her mother's death anniversary."

"…Yes Sir."

"What's wrong? You sound hesitant."

"Permission to speak freely Sir."

"…Go ahead."

"I do not believe that Milady would consent to Sir Edward's proposal."

Natsu felt a pang in his heart. _Proposal? As in marriage?_

"She doesn't have to. I just need to build a better relation with the Jurener family for better business opportunity."

Natsu felt his heart rage, anger, jealousy, hatred and most of all, sorrow was brimming from it. _How could a father sell out their daughter like that?!_ Unable to take anymore conversation before losing himself, he left. There was only one thing left on his mind; he needed to stop Lucy from going to her mother's death anniversary. As he left the grounds, he took out his phone and called up Igneel to pick him up.

"*Click* Hey, Igneel?" Natsu rushed, he needed to find the butler in order to get in touch with Lucy and that meant he needed to find out where he was.

"Ah, Natsu, you might wish to come over to Lisanna's place now."

"Huh?! You're at Lisanna's? Dude, I don't have time for that! There's something I need to do like _right now_." Natsu emphasized.

"Just get over here, trust me, you won't regret it." Igneel persisted.

Natsu hesitated, he really needed to find Lucy before she gets to where the butler is but he knew he was going nowhere as long Igneel saw fit. Resigning, he agreed, "...Fine, but make it quick."

When Natsu reached to Lisanna's house, he felt a very nostalgic warmth, although everything was still the same, there were a few minor changes here and there.

"Oh, Natsu, you're here!" Lisanna's voice rang as she walked over to Natsu.

Natsu looked up after removing his shoes. There was Lisanna, behind her was Igneel and- Blonde, brown eyes. Natsu froze. He stared wide eyed at the girl that was just a few metres away from him. He looked for so long and so hard for that missing piece in his life and there she was right now, staring back at him.

Smiling sweetly like she had back then (playing with his fire), she started, "Hi."

It dealt a fatal blow on Natsu. Her voice was not as high as before but it was still as soothing and captivating as before. Next, it was like Natsu's body went on auto pilot, though he was still shocked and stunned, he flashed a big smile at the blonde and replied.

"Hey!"

Silence followed. Lisanna saw the couple's reaction upon reunion and realized their feelings immediately. She turned to Igneel for confirmation and as though the man read her mind, he nodded.

"So… what are you doing here?" Natsu started, realizing there was a lot to clarify, "I didn't know that you two were acquainted." He said, pointing towards Lisanna.

"Ah, Lisanna-chan called me yesterday by mistake and we kind of started knowing each other from there." Lucy explained, "I happened to be in town today so I thought I'd drop by and just then, Igneel came."

The explanation triggered Jude's conversation with her butler and Natsu lost his cool, "Lucy! I have something to tell you!"

Lucy jumped at the sudden change in tempo.

"You can't visit your mother today!"

Natsu seemed to have hit a nerve somewhere because Lucy started glaring at him as she questioned the boy, "Why?"

Natsu gulped. He never saw this side of Lucy and somehow felt like he had to quickly explain himself if he wanted to stay on her good side.

"Your dad, he's waiting to ambush you if you do go." Natsu clarified.

"My dad?!" Lucy seemed shocked at first, then doubtful, then she looked into Natsu's green eyes and somehow was convinced.

"For what?" She continued to press despite herself.

"He…" Natsu hesitated, should he? He knew she needed to know but was afraid to tell her. What if she likes the Edward guy? What if she doesn't mind? He felt his stomach churn.

"Natsu?" Both Lucy and Lisanna noticed his hesitation.

Natsu looked into Lucy's brown eyes once more and found himself unable to lie.

"He wishes to marry you off to some Sir Edward guy from the Jurener family for better business opportunities." Natsu speed through the explanation as quickly as his tongue would allow him to with his eyes shut.

After a while of awkward silence, he opened his eyes to see Lucy's reaction. She looked a little surprised at first, then cracked into a giggle and finally smoothened it into a pained smile.

"That's so like him." She acknowledged.

_Oh god…_ His heart wrenched as he saw that smile. He desperately wanted to take out his fire and make her laugh like she did back when they were kids, but the 2 additional pairs of eyes in the room made it hard for him to. Finally, Lucy spoke.

"I guess mamma will have to wait." She smiled back at Natsu, silently thanking him for warning her.

Without waiting for a reply, she turned around and started heading to Lisanna's room, "Sorry, can I rest on your bed for a while? I'm kind of tired."

Lisanna said nothing but just nodded understandingly.

* * *

Wow, I typed quite a bit this time, but I think it's because there were some useless part inside... Idk... anyway, tell me what you think =) Review ^^ [BTW, thx for those who reviewed ^^ I'll keep in mind on your opinions =) And thx for the heads up teacupcococake, I've made the edit already =3]


	7. Lucy Heartfilia

Lucy laid still on the bed. Nothing could help her get to sleep now; if music did not do the trick then she knows nothing else would. She stared at the ceiling, remembering how everything came to be.

_"Father, you called?" Lucy was nervous._

_Every time her father called her to the study, it was never for anything good. They would always end up in a disagreement of some sorts and she would be grounded for a week or so. The longest lasted for a month._

_"Lucy." Jude started with a distant and cold tone, authority brimming from it, "How was the exam?"_

_"As usual, nothing I can't handle." Lucy returned the tone, silently telling him that she wasn't going to submit to him._

_"Good." He continued approvingly, ignoring her silent message. "I have registered you into the London Business School in Europe for further studies. If all goes well, you'll be accepted."_

_Lucy stared at her father in disbelief. __**Europe? That's at the other side of the world! I'll be even further away from mamma!**__ She wanted to retort, but she knew that it would just fall on deaf ears and cause her to be grounded. It was high time she played smart._

_"I see, what will have to be done?" Lucy inquired, tone remaining indifferent._

_Jude turned to face his daughter, finding her acceptance of the news oddly quick and calm, but her face proved difficult to read._

_"An interview would be held shortly after the results of your exams are out. You are to skip the pointless graduation ceremony and go for the interview. Am I understood?" Jude observed his daughters reaction, hoping to catch any of her emotional slip up to better understand what she was planning. But nothing showed._

_"I understand." Lucy maintained monotone and left duly._

_When she finally entered the confines of her room, she leaped onto her bed and let the cushions absorb the stray tears that made their way down her cheeks. She felt like hitting her dad upside down when he called the graduation ceremony pointless. Did he know how much she and her friends were looking forward to it? But she bit it in, she couldn't let herself be grounded and have the security watch her every move before the time came for the interview. That's right, she had everything planned; what to pack, which route to take, where to go, how to get there, when to get there. It was perfect. However, sleep came first._

_She slept that night with a nervous yet anticipating heart. She was looking forward to finally be free of the accursed mansion and the regulations that followed it, and yet, she was afraid that she wouldn't last a day out of it. Her soul in desperate need of comfort, looked for a memory to soothe the quivering soul. And it did._

* * *

_She listened quietly as the group teased and taunted her. She was used to their bullying. She never did anything to deserve this but her mother had only taught her to be a nice girl, never to hurt others. That was until one of the boys hit a very sensitive topic._

_ "Oh wait! No… I'm sorry, I forgot your mommy died last month and daddy don't care about you…"_

_She could no longer hold it in. Her mother taught her to never cry in front of others. If she really needed to cry, she had to make sure she was either alone or in her mother's embrace. There was one exception too but it could not be applied to her current situation. But, they were right, mamma is __**dead**__ and papa doesn't care anymore._

_She cried. She let it out but did not stop to sob because she knew it would give her away. She wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of seeing her breakdown._

_"Hey, what are you weaklings doing?"_

_She looked up, there he was, her pink haired savior. That day, it was the best time of her life since her mother died. The boy warmed her heart and her hand (literally) without even trying (okay, maybe he did). She never felt the same again. She became more forward (but not too forward to be annoying) and made new friends, she opened up to the people in her household once again and they were all relieved that she was doing much better than she did when her mother first left._

_But she had always regretted to be unable to meet the boy that changed her life once again, Natsu Dragneel._

* * *

Her eyes flew open at the sudden pull she felt. Warmth engulfed her as a pair of strong arms wrapped itself around her, pulling her into a tight embrace. Stunned, she tried to register what happened; Okay, her cheeks were moist, oh, she was crying. The pink hair that tickled the said cheeks gave away the identity of the strong arms. She knew that this was supposed to be wrong but she could not help but smile.

"Are you okay?" Finally, Natsu asked.

She felt her heart pick up pace; his voice was a lot more deep and mature than she remembered.

"Y-yeah… just… remembering things…"

The short moment of silence that followed told Lucy that Natsu wasn't satisfied with that answer, but he would have to make do for now.

"Dinner's ready."

"Oh…" Lucy answered but realized what it meant and shot off the bed, "Wait, it's this late already?!" She asked, panic in her voice.

Natsu was a little confused at her sudden reaction. Lucy had never been able to sleep in a stranger's room this easily before. It took her one whole disastrous month just to get accustomed to the one she was living in at the moment.

"What is it? Do you have a curfew or something?" Natsu asked.

Lucy stared at him, he did know she ran away from home right? "No, not that, it's just… I never really did get this comfortable in a strangers house…"

"Well, everything has it's first." Natsu reasoned with a shrug, then, pointing towards the door with his thumb, he continued, "But dinner won't wait."

Smiling, Lucy followed Natsu out of the room. Dinner was interactive as Lisanna's siblings and parents flooded Natsu and Lucy with questions (they tried Igneel but took 5 minutes to figure he wasn't the friendliest fellow). That was when Natsu felt he actually got to know Lucy for the first time. They talked about what happened during the 9 years blank without the family part (Lisanna warned her family that family was a touch subject for the 2). Natsu was quite shocked to learn that Lucy was able to make friends despite her family background and shyness and his reaction earned him a glare from Lucy. Everyone laughed it off and Natsu felt warm inside, he turned to Lucy and knew from her expression that she felt the same.

After dinner, Igneel made his way to the convenient store to pick up some motion sickness medicine while Natsu and Lucy decided to take a walk as they wait. Lisanna stayed behind though, figuring that it would be best to give those two some privacy.

As the two walked, they were enveloped in a comfortable silence and slowly made their way to the cemetery without even realizing. When they found out, they had a good laugh.

"It's kinda funny how we actually had fun at the cemetery wasn't it?" Natsu asked, recalling the moment they had 9 years ago.

Lucy giggled at the thought, "Yeah, I didn't mind though. It makes it less… depressing to be here."

Natsu looked at the pained expression that Lucy made. His heart wrenched once more and he took out a lighter (he confiscated it from Igneel for smoking too much) and a bright brilliance shown once more. Lucy smiled in gratitude and they started playing with the fire again. This time, Natsu was able to pull off a few tricks and Lucy laughed at the ridiculous ones.

However, the fun died down when Igneel called, "Where are you kids?" His tone as grumpy as ever.

"At the cemetery." Natsu answered in a pout; a little annoyed at the old man for cutting in their moment.

Lucy giggled at the sight.

"Lady Lucy?" A familiar voice boomed.

Natsu immediately stood up and signaled Lucy to get behind him. Lucy complied without hesitance.

"Sorry Igneel, gotta go. Come pick us up if you can." Natsu ended the call.

The butler stared at the two in confusion, wondering why they were being so cautious. Then, turning his attention to Lucy, he continued.

"Milady, please, let us end this childish game. Master Jude awaits you back at the mansion."

Lucy frowned and Natsu didn't need to ask why. He turned to the butler and spoke on Lucy's behalf.

"She won't be going back just yet. But it'd be best if you leave now."

Lucy stared at Natsu in disbelief, he said _just yet_, and the butler caught it too. Somewhat satisfied with the answer, the butler left. When he did, Lucy nearly made a run for it but Natsu caught her just before she could.

As she struggled desperately out of Natsu's grasp, Natsu held on to her tighter and eventually pulled her into an embrace. Lucy gasped at the outcome and Natsu whispered gently into her ear.

"I know you never want to go back there, but you should."

Lucy opened her mouth to rebut but Natsu cut her off before she could say anything, "Not to stay there, but to face your father. For now, you can run, but one day, you should face your father and get your message across."

Lucy felt her heart falter and she returned the hug. He was right, right now, she is just running away. She silently prayed that when that one day come, she'll be able to stand firm and bring her feelings across to the stubborn old man. But for now, she just wanted things to remain like this.

"*Ahem!* I'm not interrupting anything am I?" Igneel cut in with his back facing the couple.

The two jumped away from each other as an immediate respond and stumbled out random words like, "No… no you weren't…" and "Yeah… we weren't doing anything…"

Igneel stifled a laugh and signaled them to get into the car. As Natsu passed Igneel, Igneel gave the boy a teasing smirk and the boy blushed.

"Shut up…"

* * *

I hope the legnth made up for it =) This time it's a little insight on Lucy's past and I'll be honest, I actually had a slight mental block from time to time and was a little stuck here and there, but here it is! The new chapter ^^ Review =3


	8. Complications

As they sat in silence, Natsu awed at the fact that he wasn't getting car sick and kept fidgeting around. Igneel frowned at the boy's activeness and made a mental note to buy sleeping pills instead of motion sickness pills the next time. Lucy sat at the back giggling at the sight, however, the positivity did not last long as Lucy recalled -in a sense- abandoning her mother. Natsu noticed how she had stopped laughing and understood the reason. Contemplating on what to do next, he went quiet.

"Lucy, where do you stay?" Igneel questioned, noticing the sudden silence that fell upon the place.

"Oh, at Fairy resort." Lucy replied upon realisation that she hasn't mentioned where she stayed.

"What?! You _live_ in a hotel?!" Natsu questioned in shock.

Igneel wanted to say the same thing but realise he had no need for that since Natsu already did it for him.

"So what about it?" Lucy questioned back finding their shock abnormal.

"I mean... isn't it... expensive?" Natsu reasoned.

"No, its quite affordable."

"..." _Definitely__ a rich man's daughter. _Both males thought with a sweat drop.

"In any case, just drop me off there." Lucy continued, ignoring the boy's comment.

"Why don't you come live with us?" Natsu suggested in a whim; he felt like he wasn't going to meet the girl anytime soon if they just went their ways.

Lucy stared at the boy wide eyed. Igneel would've done the same if not for the fact that he needed to keep his eyes on the road.

"Excuse me?" Lucy clarified, "Did you just ask me to _live_ with you?"

And Natsu being the dense boy he is replied with a, "Yeah."

Lucy opened her mouth to swipe the ridiculous offer away but was stopped when Igneel supported it.

"That might not be a bad idea."

"What?" Lucy could not believe her ears. _Did Igneel just support_ it? Lucy thought to herself.

"Well, it's isn't really the safest or best idea to live permanently in a hotel. God knows how long and how much money you'll spend on it." Igneel began with simple reasonings that obviously did not waver the girl from the expression she returned, after all, he _did_ somewhat sell her out once.

"Plus, don't you think it'd be best if you are with people you know and can trust?" Natsu tried deepening the reason, but man that girl knows how to put on a poker face.

Eagerly waiting for a response, Natsu and Igneel silently held their breath.

"Okay... but only for a while and we'll see how it goes. I'll pay for my fair share of 'rent' too."

Natsu would've jumped if not for the fact he was strapped down to a car. The trio reached the hotel and while Lucy went up to pack, the two males waited at the lobby. While they waited, Natsu noticed the overwhelming pressure of high society. He tried his best to seem mature and Igneel mused at his attempt. It took what felt like forever to Natsu for Lucy to finally return with everything and Lucy could tell from Natsu's expression that he was not happy.

"Hey, the moving was sudden okay? I wasn't ready." Lucy tried reasoning.

"Let's go." Igneel instructed before the two could start their childish verbal battle.

Complying, the two of them followed the old man out of the hotel and into the car. When they reached home, Lucy took her time registering the layout of the house. Natsu gave her a brief tour and showed her to her soon to be room.

"Wow, it's surprisingly decent." Lucy said with astonishment.

"Well, the old man has a lot of free time so he always maintains the place. I help when I can." Natsu explained embarrassingly while scratching his head.

"Yea, sounds like you to leave it to an old man." Lucy teased with a giggle.

"I said I help when I can!" Natsu tried to fight for his pride but Lucy just swiped it aside and sat down on the bed.

She bounced on it to test how soft it was and a satisfactory smile escaped her lips, Natsu let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"Satisfactory?" Natsu asked the obvious with pride.

Noticing his tone, she unwilling admitted while waving her hand in the air, "Yeah yeah."

Natsu couldn't help but smile at the fact that they are making normal conversations and not to mention living together. While he was marveling at that fact, Lucy's phone rang and they both jumped at the sudden interruption.

"Hello?" Lucy answered.

Natsu remained quiet and considerately closed her door to give her the privacy she needed. Lucy nodded in his direction to express her appreciation to his action. However, his strong sense of hearing didn't help her much with her privacy since he could still hear her. He couldn't hear the person on the phone though. He had planned to walk further away but her next few words caught his attention.

"Hey Jason." Lucy continued.

_Jason? Who's that? That's definitely a boy's name though... don't tell me..._

"Yeah, I'm fine. I was invited by a friend to stay at his place."

_Oh... I'm a friend..._ Natsu couldn't help but feel disappointed by the way she put her relationship, but it was definitely better than saying stranger or acquaintance.

"It's fine! He won't do anything like that to me!"

_Okay, who the hell is that?!_ Natsu felt angry at whoever that Jason guy was for doubting him. Then again he would've felt the same. But he felt happy on how Lucy had that trust in him.

"Yeah, I know. I'll pass you the address when I can. Until then please bear with it."

Natsu recalled that he hadn't told Lucy their address and made a mental note to do so later but hesitated when he thought of how she was going to tell Jason about it. Then again, he'll have to when she asks.

"Okay, bye."

_Finally..._ Natsu thought in relief but was taken aback by her next words.

"Yeah, I miss you too."

_I miss you? That sounds like some phrase when you're dating someone!_ Natsu nearly yelled out but made sure he did not do so by covering his mouth with his hands. Even the train of his thoughts had the ability to make him feel sick.

"Hey! Dinner's ready!" Igneel yelled out and shoved Natsu off his train of thoughts.

"Okay!" Lucy made an immediate reply and from the closeness of her voice, he knew she was near her door.

Making a soft run for his room, Natsu made sure Lucy wouldn't catch him eavesdropping. He sat in his room for about 5 minutes to calm down and push the thought of Jason off his head but was evidently useless since the moment he saw Lucy, the thought came back. Taking a deep breath, he decided to try his luck.

"So, who was that just now?" Natsu tried to sound as natural as possible as he took a seat beside the girl.

"It doesn't matter now does it?" Lucy replied looking away from the pinkette.

Natsu raised an eyebrow. Was the topic of boyfriends and girlfriends that sensitive?

"If it doesn't matter then it should be okay if you tell me right?" Natsu tried to press further.

"Why do you want to know?" Lucy shot the boy a look while blushing.

_Oh God__..._ Natsu thought. _Now, she's embarrassed. I really shouldn't have asked._ Natsu mentally slapped himself.

"Don't tell me he's your boyfriend." This time, Natsu's mouth ran without his permission and he mentally strangle, pound and wring himself for shooting himself in the head.

Lucy stared at him in disbelief.

"What?" Natsu asked while continuously staring at his half empty bowl. He must've been stuffing his mouth due to the depression.

"How did you know the caller is a he?" Lucy questioned.

_Damnit!_ He was caught off guard and he didn't want Lucy to know he was eavesdropping on him, after all, he didn't want to destroy the trust she had in him.

"I was just shooting a random guess. Because you were blushing I thought it might've been someone you liked..." Natsu was impressed at how his brain was able to come up with such a good excuse but at the same time pained at predicting it was someone she liked.

"Oh..." Lucy looked away from Natsu again with her deepening red face and he couldn't help but flash a pained expression.

"*Ahem*" Igneel interrupted their conversation after noticing Natsu's expression. "One rule I have in this house is no excessive talking while eating."

"Ah... I'm sorry..." Lucy apologised and looked to Natsu when he stood up and started leaving. "Where are you going?" She asked the retreating boy.

"To take a shower. I've got no appetite today..." The boy replied without looking back.

Lucy turned to look at her food, suddenly finding it a little stale.

"What's the matter? You look... disappointed..." Igneel questioned, finding her reaction abnormal.

"Huh? I do?" Lucy questioned back, also finding her reaction abnormal. "I guess... It's just less fun with lesser people..." That was the best reason Lucy could think of.

That night, Lucy laid on her bed thinking about her conversation with Natsu. She was puzzled at why she felt the need to conceal the fact that she had a boyfriend from Natsu. She used to brag to her friends about how she had a boyfriend and how great he was, but when she thought about telling Natsu about it, her stomach just churned. She couldn't do it. And when Nastu left with a depressing aura, she herself felt bad for not telling him. She felt like she betrayed his trust. She was so confused. She couldn't understand why she felt so conflicted and negative. After an hour of thinking, she decided it was time to rest. Perhaps everything would make sense when she wake up, but deep down, she knew it was too long a shot.

* * *

Okay, I know I did not upload much last time and I'm probably gonna be publishing one chapter per week now but please forgive me! It's my O Level year! But in any case, here's chapter 8! Yes, I know there's no such resort in Japan nor any other part of the world... let's just... pretend there is... SORRY! But I hope you still enjoy it! Review =)

P.s, just made my first NaLu AMV, you can go to watch?v=oT7Wkle1hgQ to watch it if you wish =3 [At your own will]


	9. New Beginnings

Lucy woke to a Monday. A Monday... That's right, she had school on that day and she was going to need a ride.

"Igneel!" Lucy yelled as she made her way down.

"Yes?" Igneel sounded more surprised than annoyed.

"I'm sorry but I kind of need a ride to school..." Lucy explained in embarrassment.

"I see, which school do you go to?" Igneel inquired.

"Fairy Tale High."

"*Choke!*"

Natsu choked on the piece of bread that he was munching on and looked up to a curious Lucy.

"What?" She asked.

"N-Nothing..."

"He'll be attending that school too." Igneel explained for him.

"EH?!"

"Is it really _that_ shocking?!" Natsu was kind of annoyed at how everyone had the same reaction when he said he'll be attending that school.

"I didn't think you'd be able to make it into that school..."

"Argh! That's what everyone says!" Natsu blowed at the recollection of his friends comments.

"He was only able to scrap by due to his affiliations to the school. He was in Fairy Tale Elementary and Fairy Tale Middle School that's why." Igneel explained.

"Oh. I see." Lucy remarked while trying to stifle a giggle.

"What's so funny?" Natsu asked in annoyance.

"Nothing~" Lucy teased as she ate the piece of bread that sat on her plate.

As the trio left the house, Lucy noticed something and nonchalantly voiced it out loud, "It kinda feels like we're siblings doesn't it?"

_Really?! As if being friend-zoned wasn't bad enough, now you want to family-zone me?!_ Natsu winced at the thought and made out a feeble, "Yeah..."

Igneel would've laughed if not for the fact that he took pity in the boy's situation and just told them to get in the car.

At the school, Natsu and Lucy made their way to the reception desk to get their personal guidebook. Every student had their guidebook specially tailored for the individual and Lucy awed at the fact. Natsu wasn't as surprised since he was already used to it.

"Wow, everything is really detailed... It makes things a lot easier!" Lucy marveled at her guidebook.

"Really? I remember how gramps used to say how this is just a method their using to better 'control' us with." Natsu recalled.

"Huh? What do you mean? And who's 'gramps'?" Lucy asked for better clarification.

"Huh? Oh, you don't know about them do you? Well, gramps is a nickname we gave our club teacher. He's really old." Natsu explained.

"I see, what club is it?" Lucy pressed further and Natsu didn't mind.

"FairyTail of course!"

"Huh?! There's a club that goes by the name of the school?!" Lucy found it quite bias.

"Not Fairy _Tale_, it's Fairy _Tail_." Natsu corrected as he made the action with his hands moving from his butt like a tail to indicate the tail part.

"Oh... okay... What do you do there?"

"Party!" The moment the words left his mouth, Natsu's head was hit by a school bag and he naturally fell to the ground.

"No it's not you idiot! We socialise and help out with school events or requests when we can!" A male's voice boomed.

Lucy turned to see the assaulter and found a raven haired boy there. She immediately took notice of the scar on his forehead but knew now wasn't exactly the time nor place to be asking such questions.

"Gray! What was that for?!" Natsu yelled back at the suddenly half naked boy.

"Ah!" Lucy squealed as she looked away from the stripper.

"Wha- SHIT!" Gray immediately ran off after noticing his shirt was gone.

After things calmed down, the duet made their way to their classes. Lucy didn't even bother to ask who the previous boy is. They looked at their guidebook to see what was their respective classes and Natsu was quite disappointed at the result. She was in 1-A and he was in 1-D; quite understandable from their results. As they walked, Natsu decided to relight their previous topic.

"So... Do you wish to join our club?"

"Eh? Oh... I was actually planning on joining the literature club." Lucy explained.

"Eh?" Natsu had a tone of disgust in his voice and Lucy immediately shot the boy a glare.

"What?" Lucy questioned firmly.

"N-nothing... it's just-" Natsu was about to continue but Lucy's glare strengthened and he decided to remain silent, "Nothing..."

Focusing back on the corridor, Natsu tried to think of a way to make her join, or at least, consider joining FairyTail.

"Well, you can always... join 2 clubs... Levy did that too..."

Lucy stared at him. What made Natsu uncomfortable wasn't the fact that she was staring at him, but rather the way she was staring at him. It had no criticism nor any judgments of sorts. Just indifferent.

"W-What?" Natsu couldn't help but stammer.

"I'll think about it." Lucy said as she returned her attention to the path they were taking.

Natsu immediately did an action of "Yes" by pulling his fist down. He was thrilled at how he at least made her consider.

*Ding Dong*

"That's the bell, we better pick up pace." Lucy suggested.

"Um... My class is here..." Natsu explained pointing at the sliding door they were next to.

"I see, then I better get going." Lucy replied and started brisk walking towards her class that was 3 classrooms down.

Natsu couldn't help but linger around until Lucy entered the classroom and out of his sight. _I hope she'll be fine..._

Lucy stepped into her class to find a calm and solemn atmosphere. She disliked that kind of atmosphere but was used to it due to the fact that she had to live with it for all her life. She scanned the room for table 25 but stopped when she saw 2 distinct faces that she'd probably never forget even if she tried and she immediately thought _Oh dear... why must they haunt me wherever I go?_ As though the duo read her mind, they stood up and made their way to the blonde. Lucy steeled herself for the impending insults.

"Hey, lookie here, it's the rich girl." Sting laughed.

"Sting." Rogue signaled for the boy to stop and the said boy got annoyed and walked away.

Lucy bit her lip and looked away, normally, she'd bite back but that was only when Jason or her friends are with her to back her up.

"I'm sorry, he really isn't always like that..." Rogue tried to explain and Lucy was shocked; she didn't expect him to be nice to her.

"Where's Minerva? I thought you guys were always together." Lucy inquired.

Rogue stared at the girl with indifferent eyes but she could tell that on the inside, he was shocked.

"You didn't hear? The Heartfilia family made her family move to another prefecture. That's why Sting is so angry at you."

"My dad did what?!" Lucy asked in astonishment and caught the attention of a few classmates who returned to doing their own things after she bowed apologetically.

Rogue raised a brow and Sting made his way to the girl in rage.

"Don't pretend like you don't know! You rich people are all the same! Always taking advantage of the poor!"

Rogue put a hand in front of the boy to control him. Apparently he was the only one who was able to analyze the situation calmly and could tell that Lucy was just as angry as Sting.

"I'll go talk to my dad." Lucy announced with determination in her voice but another voice from behind her opposed the idea.

"I don't think that's wise Lucy."

Lucy turned to the owner of the voice, finding comfort in it.

"Jason!" Lucy's voice was filled with relief.

"Hey." Jason replied with a big grin on his face and continued with his reason, "There's no doubt that your old man is not gonna let you leave after you step back into that house."

Lucy looked down on the floor in confusion as she considered Jason's reason. Then, she recalled what Natsu said to her.

_"I know you never want to go back there, but you should."_

_Lucy opened her mouth to rebut but Natsu cut her off before she could say anything, "Not to stay there, but to face your father. For now, you can run, but one day, you should face your father and get your message across."_

Isn't it about time she faced her father instead of running away? She needed to know her father's reason for sending Minerva's family to another prefecture. Just as she was about to explain to Jason that she isn't going to run away anymore, their homeroom teacher's shadow over casted them.

"*Ahem* If you wish to talk, please do not block the door." Their teacher reasoned with a gruffy voice which caught them all off guard.

"I'm sorry!" Lucy apologised in the stead of the three boys as well and they turned to their seats.

"Okay! I purposely came in late today so you guys can do your meet and greets before we start the day." Their teacher boomed his explanation to the class and turned to the previous four before continuing, "Which some of you did..." Then turning to those who had their nose in their books, he further continued, "But some of you didn't... In any case, we're gonna spend a minimum a year together so lets get along together!" Having said that, the smile from his face was suddenly wiped away and he continued in a more pressurising and serious tone.

"But we all know that's not gonna happen."

Everyone in the class suddenly shot up to give their teacher their fullest attention, unable to comprehend what he meant.

"We all know that some of us are going to alienate others." Their teacher continued, "And some of us are going to tease others excessively."

The class gulped in unison, unable to deny those possibilities.

"And of course, being the top class of the cohort, there will be a lot of competitions. Some may turn ugly, some may end with humble ends." Their teacher scanned the stiff students of the class and after a while of suffocating silence, he continued with less pressure and more wisdom, "But at the end of the year, I hope that you'll all be able to leave this class thinking: _This year was worth it._"

The class let out the breath that they had unconsciously held in. Lucy looked at their teacher in astonishment. He was different from the great many teachers that once taught her. Her teachers had always been the unrealistic and stereotypical type but he was different. He was telling them that no year would be perfect, but at least, walk away saying that you've gained something from it. She wondered if all the teachers in Fairy Tale High (Fairy High in short) were the same.

"Oh! By the way, I'm Mr Clive but you guys can just call me Gildarts if you want and if you have any inquiries, feel free to ask." With that, Gildarts ended their homeroom and walked out of the class.

* * *

Wow, I wrote more than usual this time... take it as compensation for a boring previous chapter... YES! Gray, Gildarts and Jason finally made their entrance and yes, Jason is Lucy's current boyfriend and no, it's not the reporter from the original story but a fictional character that I just inserted for the drama =P. In any case, the next chapter is going to bring a lot more familiar faces =) Review . [Thx guys ˆˆ]


	10. Promises

"Wow... that teacher was... unique..." Jason commented as he walked down the hallway with his girlfriend for lunch break.

"Yeah, although he's kinda weird, he gives off this vibe that says: _You can depend on me!_" Lucy tried to mimic Gildart's gruffy voice but failed and her boyfriend couldn't help but smile at her cuteness.

"How's your latest novel coming?" Jason asked harmlessly but being the shy girl she is, Lucy stuttered embarrassingly.

"What? Huh? No! Don't talk about it in public! You know I'm not good that good yet!" Lucy squealed.

"Um... excuse me." A girl's voice asked.

"Yes?" Lucy replied with regained composure.

"Is it true that you're writing a novel?" The blue haired girl questioned.

And Lucy went berserk with embarrassment once more. Taking her reaction as a yes, the girl proceeded with excitement.

"Can I read it when you're done?!"

"Huh? No! Why? It's really amateurish!" Lucy replied with her red face and Jason could not help but muse at the sight.

"Don't worry! As long as it's a story you pour your heart into, it's worth reading to me!" the girl coaxed.

Lucy couldn't help but feel reassured by her words and just nodded.

"But it really isn't complete so not yet..." Lucy mumbled out; still a little embarrassed.

"Sure! I'll wait! By the way, I'm Levy." Levy finally introduced with a wide smile.

"Oh, I'm Lucy." Lucy reciprocated the smile and thought to herself, _Levy... wasn't that the girl Natsu mentioned just now?_

"I know, your friend there said your name just now." Levy explained, pointing at Jason along the way. "Oh, and are you by any chance the 'Lucy' that Natsu keeps talking about?"

_Okay, definitely the 'Levy' Nastu mentioned just now._ "Yeah. And are you the girl Natsu mentioned that joined 2 clubs?" Lucy decided to ask a question she already know the answer to.

"Yeah! Are you planning to do so too?" Levy asked excitedly.

"Well... I'm not really sure on whether I'd be able to cope with it but Natsu suggested that I join FairyTail although I want to join the Literature club." Lucy explained.

"Really?! I'm going to join both FairyTail and the Literature club too! What a coincidence!" Levy squealed.

"Really?!" Lucy asked back with an equal amount of excitement as she felt the connection she had with the bluenette. "You really like stories don't you?" Lucy commented.

"Yep! I do! I can't write stories though, but if it's reading stories, give me anything!" Levy bragged as she winked at Lucy.

Lucy couldn't help but smile at the girls enthusiasm. Half a day into the first day and she already love it. "Sure!" Lucy replied to Levy's prior statement with as much enthusiasm as the girl.

"I know I might be rude but can I call you Lu-chan?" Levy inquired embarrassingly but Lucy just felt warmer.

"Sure! And I'll call you Levy-chan!" Lucy replied.

She couldn't go pass the boundary of adding the suffix of 'chan' due to her family upbringing but anyone who knows her long enough would know that that's a huge leap.

"By the way..." Levy suddenly sound a little timid.

"Huh? What's wrong?" Lucy questioned worriedly, finding the girl's timidness unusual.

"May I know what's your relation with Natsu?" Levy asked. Face tinted in pink.

"Huh?" Lucy had read enough novels to know what her behaviour meant. "Don't tell me... you like Natsu?"

At that moment, Jason lightly 'chopped' her on her head with his hands, "You're too straightforward."

At Lucy's words, Levy's face turned from tainted pink to bright read, "N-no! It's just... well... he talks about you a lot... and he might've saved me a couple of times and..."

_Definitely in love._ Jason and Lucy thought at the same time.

"Don't worry. We're just friends." Lucy comforted.

"But I heard you two are living together." Levy questioned.

Jason rose an eyebrow and turned to his girlfriend.

"He's the boy that you said you were living with?"

"Well..." Lucy tried to rebut but realise it was all true and just settled with a sheepish, "Yeah..."

"Well, why didn't you tell me?" Jason found it a little disturbing.

"Well, I didn't want to make such a big deal of it. Plus, Natsu's harmless. Childish, but harmless." Lucy tried to explain herself.

Jason could only mumble out a, "I see..."

But Levy did not stand for it, "Natsu's not childish! He just... doesn't know how to express his happiness well..."

Lucy sweat-drop at her comment and just laughed at her teasingly after noticing her red face. Unbeknownst to the girls, Jason was starting to get annoyed at how the boy 'Natsu' have become the main topic. Quietly excusing himself, he left to find the said boy.

"Yes? How may I help you?" A girl with immaculate dressing and blue hair that curled up when they touched her shoulder inquired.

Finding the aura around the girl dangerously cautious, Jason gulped and stated his business.

"I'm looking for a guy named 'Natsu'."

Suddenly, the provocative aura dissipated and the girl turned to call the named boy.

"Natsu-san!"

"Whad up Juvia?" Natsu called back with a muffled voice; He was in the middle of stuffing his mouth with the bento Igneel kindly made for him.

"A guy named Jason is looking for you!" She explained.

_Did I state my name?_ Jason thought to himself as he examined himself for any possible evidence that could have gave him away. _Right, my name tag..._

"Jason?" Natsu's face turned from happy to serious as he made the connection between the names.

The two boys stepped out of the classroom and made their way to a secluded stairwell to have their 'talk' which they both already have a rough idea on where this is going.

Lucy.

"So... you're Lucy's boyfriend?" Natsu asked.

"Yeah." Jason replied possessively and Natsu immediately winced at his tone.

"Do you love her?" Natsu straightforwardly asked. They had their silent acknowledgement where this is the time where a man hands a woman to another man.

"Yes." Jason replied without wavering Natsu winced once more.

"How long have you dated her?" Natsu silently wondered why is he self abusing.

"About half a year." Jason continued to keep his answers short and sweet.

"Do you swear on your life that you'd never make her cry and protect her no matter what?" Natsu was dead serious at this point and shooting Jason with a death glare, making sure that he does not find an ounce of hesitation from the boy.

"I promise I won't be the reason for her tears but rather, the one who dries them." Jason assured without waver which only served a deeper cut within Natsu's chest.

"I see..." Natsu said with a subtle disappointment that Jason caught. "Just... be sure to treat her right..."

"I know." Jason assured. "Now, it's my turn."

Natsu stopped from turning to leave and gave the man his fullest attention, unable to comprehend what he meant.

"Do you like Lucy?" Jason asked, but before Natsu could open his mouth to say the expected 'Of course', he added, "Not in a friendly or brotherly manner, but in a romantic manner."

Natsu closed his mouth and formed a rare mature smile. "I doesn't matter anymore now does it?"

Just as he finished his sentence, a voice boomed from above them.

"Jason! There you are! But... why are you with Natsu?" Natsu's favourite voice sounded.

"We just happened to meet and I wanted to know the famous Natsu a little better." Jason smoked his way through.

"Oh..." Lucy sounded slightly dejected. "Did you... tell him about us?"

"Yeah." Jason replied indifferently.

"I see... Darn it, I wanted to tell him myself!" Lucy playfully punched Jason and Natsu automatically turned away, knowing his poor heart wouldn't be able to take it.

"Oh... can I talk to you for a moment?" Lucy asked.

Natsu turned to find her talking to him and although it hurt like hell, he agreed. Jason kindly excused himself to give the two of them some privacy.

"N-Natsu..." Before Lucy could start, Natsu decided to go ahead and cut himself in.

"Hey."

"? Uh... Hey..." Lucy felt awkward at the abrupt interruption.

"He seems like a reliable guy."

"I... know..."

"Good for you..."

"Yeah..."

There was a momentary silence that followed.

"It seems like my duties have been relieved huh?" Natsu continued to break the silence.

"Huh?" Lucy was a little lost until she recalled the promise they made 9 years ago.

_"Okay, now, time for your mother!" Natsu abruptly __interrupted their moment of fire bending._

_"Huh?"_

_"We've entertained my parents enough, so, where's yours? We can't possibly leave your mum out of all the fun!" Natsu explained with his favourite big smile._

_Lucy smiled back in appreciation of his thoughts and guided him to the big tombstone that even had a huge statue on it. Natsu's mouth was as open as a broken door. Lucy giggled and helped him close it. She then proceeded to kneel before the tombstone._

_"Mamma, I'm here."_

_Following suite, Natsu knelt before the grave as well and Lucy introduced him to her mother._

_"This boy is Mashiro Tsuna, soon to be Natsu Dragneel." She paused for a bit, then hesitantly added, "My friend."_

_Natsu blushed a bit. He hasn't made any friends after the fire and was well appreciative of it. He then turned to the grave and prayed. After he was done, Lucy asked him what did he say. Standing up, he answered._

_"Until you get a boyfriend, I'll be the guy to protect you!" He said once more with his toothy grin that Lucy was slowly getting addicted to._

_Blushing, she nodded._

_"We should head back now." Lucy suggested and Natsu immediately laps into a pout._

_"Aw man..."_

Lucy froze for a bit after the recollection and somehow felt scared that Natsu isn't going to be the one to protect her anymore. Her brain searched hard for a reason or excuse to prevent that.

"Um... But... But you haven't done your job in 9 years! You owe me!" Lucy argued.

Natsu stared at the blonde with realisation, "Oh yeah... I didn't..."

Sighing in relief, Lucy relaxed and demanded, "So, for the next 9 years, you'll still have to protect me to clear off your debts!"

Sighing in defeat, Natsu just replied, " Yeah yeah." After all, he wasn't really against the idea. However, he had no idea how much pain it'll bring him eventually.

* * *

Okay, chapter 10 =) If any of you spot any errors, please do point out because as you probably noticed, authors have difficulty spotting errors in their own works =3 Well, I'm kinda picking up pace in my writing now because I somehow just suddenly have the whole story planned out in my head ^^ and yes, Levy has a crush on Natsu... for now... In any case, review! XD [Thx for the favourites and follows! X3]


	11. Moving On

Lucy and Natsu made their way back into the crowd of people who busied themselves with returning to the classroom due to the bell. Jason stood outside his classroom waiting for his girlfriend to return to him and she did. As they re-entered the classroom, Natsu just gazed sadly at the sight. Levy caught sight of his gaze and immediately felt her heart sink.

"Where have you been fire-breath?" Gray asked as he threw a bag filled with rubbish at the boy.

No where close to be in the mood for games, Natsu growled darkly at the boy, "What?"

And Gray, being the dense boy he is, continued without caring, "You left me to clean up the mess! Now it's your turn to throw it out."

Growling in annoyance, he left the classroom and everyone stared at him in disbelief. Juvia said a little too late for the boy to hear.

"Natsu-san... There's a bin right here..."

Meanwhile, the depressed boy walked down the now empty hallway hoping that the silence could heal his broken heart only to be caught by Makarov.

"Natsu! What are you doing loitering around the hallway when it's lesson time?!"

Natsu answered weakly without even looking up from the ground, "Throwing rubbish..."

Makarov raised an eyebrow.

"Every classroom has a dustbin..."

As though a rock hit him hard, Natsu went still. Sensing something was wrong, Makarov questioned.

"Okay, what's wrong?"

The two males settled down in a corner of the roof that was invisible to the security cameras.

"So, what's wrong?"

"...It's just... What would you do if the girl you like already have a boyfriend?"

"Move on." Makarov replied quickly.

Natsu sweat-dropped at the quick reply and mumbled, "It's not as easy for everyone..."

Noticing Natsu's seriousness, Makarov cleared his throat before continuing, "You see Natsu, when you really like a girl, but the girl doesn't love you back, you move on. I mean, you definitely have to otherwise you'll just be chained up all the time. And that won't be healthy for you nor the girl in question."

Thinking closely to what Makarov said, Natsu just nodded.

"Okay, 'bout time you return to class, but if you're in no mood for it, you can stop by the infirmary." Makarov suggested with a wink.

Taking the latter advice, Natsu made his way to the infirmary only to be greeted by Lisanna's older sister, Mira Jane.

"Hi Natsu, not feeling well? Or just skipping class?" Mira asked with glee.

"Both."

"Haha! Typical students."

Natsu made his way to the bed automatically and sat him self in.

"So... I see you and my sister have reunited..." Mira started slowly.

"Huh? Oh... Yeah..." Natsu replied halfheartedly.

"Do you... have someone you like?" Mira questioned again, slightly annoyed at the boy's halfhearted response.

"..." Natsu hesitated.

"I did..." He finally answered.

"'Did'... Past tense?"

"It doesn't... matter anymore..." Natsu muttered just loud enough for Mira to hear.

As he laid in bed, Natsu's face flashed hurt as a whole wave of emotions overwhelm him together with memories.

-Pathetic at how he did not protect Lucy for 9 years.  
-Guilty for not visiting more often.  
-Regret for not keeping in touch with Lucy for 9 years.  
-Pained at how he is still hopelessly in love with the blonde.  
-Annoyed at how stuck he is with the "What if"s and "What could've been"s.

Noticing Natsu's deviation from his usual self, Mira decided to touch on a certain topic.

"Well... I don't know if you noticed... but Lisanna has liked you for quite awhile now." Mira decided to be straightforward.

Natsu looked at Mira with disbelief but she nodded to tell him it is true. After some considerations, he turned to fully face Mira to show how serious he is and said, "Can I have her number?"

Mira smiled with satisfaction.

* * *

"I'm home!" Natsu announced at his arrival and saw Lucy walk out of the bathroom almost at the same time.

"Welcome back." Lucy greeted with a smile; completely comfortable with her 'new home'.

Natsu's eyes lingered at her for a few moments, taking in her after-bath appearance with wide eyes. The way her hair stuck together due to the water and how her skin sparkled under the dim light the corridor provided- He quickly tore his gaze away from the blonde and proceeded quickly to his room. Lucy just stared confused at the pinkette's unusually cold behaviour.

Dinner time came and the three settled down nicely at the dinning table. The two youngsters found difficulty maintaining eye contact (In Natsu's case, not making eye contact) and started getting fidgety. Noticing something's up, Igneel coughed and asked.

"How was your day?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah... never been better..." Natsu lied right under his teeth and Igneel caught it; mostly due to the fact they've lived together for 9 years and he learnt what each reaction Natsu made meant and partly because he was so obvious.

"Really?" Igneel questioned accusingly and continued. "So, what happened?"

Natsu felt a knot in his stomach and couldn't let out a word. Catching his discomfort, Lucy decided to save him.

"Well, I made a new friend!"

"Oh? Who is it?" Igneel continued.

"She said her name is Levy."

"You met Levy?!" Natsu yelled out in disbelief, the food in his mouth nearly made contact with Lucy's face.

"Is it really that much of a shocker?" Lucy questioned back in hurt.

"No... it's just..." Natsu explained with his hands scratching the back of his head. "Well, I was planning to introduce you guys to each other myself..."

Lucy blushed a little. She couldn't deny that sometimes, the boy's reasoning is quite cute. It's like he has the innocence of a 12 year-old.

"Well, that's not necessary anymore." She said as she prepared to place food in her mouth but stopped when she recalled Levy's actions the spelled, "I love Natsu."

"Hey... Natsu... How do you feel about Levy?" She started without even realising.

Natsu looked at Lucy with a raised eyebrow, unable to comprehend how the topic rose to attention. After a pause, Natsu decided to answer anyway.

"Well, she is cute and innocent..." Natsu started.

Lucy could not understand why she felt her heart wrench at those words.

"She's a good friend. She really reminded me of you." Natsu mumbled the latter as softly as possible but Lucy caught it and could not help but blush.

"Why the sudden question?" It was Natsu's turn to ask.

"Well... I was wondering if you liked her in a romantic manner..." Lucy explained slowly.

Natsu stared at the girl wide eyed for a moment and started laughing.

"No way! Haha! She's a good friend, but not girlfriend material!" Lucy breathed a sigh of relief but stopped herself when she did. _Wait, what am I getting relieved for? This means that Levy is going to have her heart broken!_ Lucy scolded herself.

"Besides, she doesn't like me, she likes the guy that I remind her of." Natsu explained.

"What?" Lucy couldn't believe her ears.

"Yeah... a guy named... Ga... I forgot his name but it starts with 'G'." Natsu continued.

Suddenly, Lucy didn't feel so bad for the girl anymore but she could relate to her feelings since she herself had 'liked' other boys just because they reminded her of Natsu. _Wait, what am I thinking about? I'm dating Jason now!_ Lucy repeatedly reminded herself to make sure her face didn't heat up again.

"In any case, me and Levy are just friends. Plus, I've got a girlfriend now." Natsu ended.

"What?!" Both Lucy and Igneel choked on their food to get the word out.

Natsu was shocked at himself; he hadn't planned on announcing it that day. He quickly looked up to deny his previous line but when those chocolate brown eyes bore into his being, he couldn't help but not lie.

"Yeah... I'm... dating Lisanna now..." Natsu staggered that line out, mentally slapping himself for that.

He quickly looked to Lucy for her reaction but she just smiled.

"Congrats! You two are childhood friends right? That's so sweet!"

His heart only sank further. Then again, what was he hoping for? She already has a boyfriend and you expect her to like him? It was just... the way she sounded just now... gave him hope.

"Yeah... Thanks." Natsu forced a smile that only Igneel noticed since Lucy was busy with hiding her feelings.

That night, Lucy went to bed thinking. Why did she feel her chest tighten when he announced that he had a girlfriend and why did she feel relieved when he said that he does not like Levy the romantic way? Is it because... _No!_ She stopped herself before she could think it. That night, she had to repeatedly tell herself that what she was feeling is just a misunderstanding. He's just a brother... _Nothing but a brother..._

* * *

I'm SO SORRY! I know it's been almost 2 weeks since I last posted but I had to study so... yeah... I'm sorry... Anyway, here's the new chapter and yes, it is shorter than usual but I promise that the next chapter would make up for it. Review =)


	12. Choices Gone Wrong

"Yeah... I know, but it just feels... Wrong" Lucy coughed the words out.

"You mean him having a girlfriend or him having a girlfriend that is not you?" A brunette questioned the blonde over the phone.

Lucy hesitated, she honestly didn't expect to be asked that question and could not answer immediately, gaining suspicion from the other end of the phone.

"Lucy? You there?"

"I hear you Cana." Lucy replied, "But... I honestly don't know..."

Cana giggled and decided to toy with her friend, "Are you gonna give up on Jason? If you are, I'll gladly take him from you!"

"Cana!" Lucy wasn't as shocked as she sounded since Cana had always teased her about it but it still hurt to hear it although she knew she was just kidding.

"Okay, tell you what. It's summer vacations, let's have an outing at the beach and you can invite all your new friends and that 'Natsu' boy too! We can catch up then too." Cana suggested, earning a frown she could not see from the other end of the phone.

"You seem more hyped for meeting new friends than catching up." Lucy accused.

"Guilty as charged. But you can't blame a girl for trying." Cana confessed.

"Haha! Okay, I'll ask around my side and send you the details as soon as I can." Lucy concluded.

"Okay okay, talk to you later!" Cana ended.

Yes. It has been half a year since Lisanna and Natsu started dating and Lucy never felt more confused. At first, she was still okay with their new found relationship; She just felt a little weirded out by the fact that Natsu actually had a girlfriend. However, everything went downhill after she sees them share their first kiss together after two months of dating. She felt very uncomfortable around Natsu since then and they were very awkward around each other. They could barely even sustain a normal conversation and it was driving her crazy. Noticing the awkwardness, Jason decided to take her on more frequent dates and even join the FairyTail club to make her feel less awkward since Levy wasn't exactly able to stay by her side all the time. Plus, Jason had the ability to make her forget about Natsu for whatever duration they were together and it made Lucy feel comfortable. But that too was starting to loose it's efficiency when Jason had to leave for a family trip to Venice for the whole of summer vacation. Desperate, Lucy decided to contact her long lost confidant, Cana.

*Bzzz* Her phone vibrates. Opening her phone, she sees a message that makes her smile.

[JasonTheCoolKid] I'm lonely TT^TT  
[EverNormalLucy] Aren't u with family?  
[JasonTheCoolKid] The sum of my family can't make up for your warmth ='(  
[EverNormalLucy] Ur exaggerating -.-  
[JasonTheCoolKid] Trust me, I'm not =(

Lucy blushed. Jason was sweet and loving, just like a prince. While Natsu is violent and occasionally overprotective, like a guard dog.

[EverNormalLucy] I'm cold too... =(  
[JasonTheCoolKid] She confesses!

Lucy laughed. He can be really over dramatic sometimes.

[EverNormalLucy] Guilty as charged.  
[JasonTheCoolKid] *Laugh*  
[JasonTheCoolKid] What is this?!  
[EverNormalLucy] ?  
[JasonTheCoolKid] Thou wishes to to throw a party without inviting me?!  
[EverNormalLucy] Cana?  
[JasonTheCoolKid] Yes.  
[EverNormalLucy] *Sigh* I can't help it. My boyfriend is too busy overseas when my bestfriend wishes to get a boyfriend out of my new friends.  
[JasonTheCoolKid] Milady, I receive news from your boyfriend that he will fly back immediately.  
[EverNormalLucy] Don't. It'll make me feel bad.  
[JasonTheCoolKid] *Pout*  
[EverNormalLucy] Haha! Don't worry, it's just for Cana's sake ;)  
[JasonTheCoolKid] ...

Lucy gasped. If Jason ever sends the '...'s it means it's on to serious mode.

[EverNormalLucy] ...Jason?  
[JasonTheCoolKid] Are you sure you'll be fine by yourself?

Lucy smiled weakly at her phone screen. Honestly, she doesn't know. But her fingers moved automatically.

[EverNormalLucy] Of course! Plus I won't be alone, I'll have Cana-chan and Levy-chan ;)  
[JasonTheCoolKid] If you say so...  
[EverNormalLucy] Don't worry, I know so. =)

Lucy closed her phone and looked to her room door. Right pass her door and at the other side of the corridor was Natsu's currently empty room since he is on a date with Lisanna. She digressed back to her depression right after recalling and decided to distract herself by sending out invites, making sure Lisanna and Natsu were both last on the list. She miss Jason so bad.

* * *

"It's the sea!" Cana screamed as she leaped off the ledge of a short cliff and into the ocean.

Lucy watched and just laughed as she saw her friend play with child-like delight in the salty sea.

"I think this is a first that you don't have to stay behind in summer make-up lessons." Lucy commented harmlessly.

However, everyone knew something was up after hearing her reaction.

"I-is that so?" Cana stammered after freezing up.

Lucy sweat-dropped at her bestfriend's reaction.

"So, where's that famous Natsu?" Cana questioned.

"Oh, over there." Lucy pointed to the refreashment stand.

The pinkette was hovering over his girlfriend as though he was making sure no other guys would be able to see her nice curves. Lucy's heart wrenched at the sight and her face made no effort to hide it. Cana noticed and sighed.

"Earth to Lucy!"

"Huh?! Yeah?" Lucy was pulled right out of her thoughts.

"So... Natsu Dragneel is the overprotective type."

"Yeah..."

"*Pfft*!"

"What's wrong?"

"This whole scenario is like sleeping beauty!"

"Huh?! How so?!"

"You know, you as the princess, Jason as the prince and Natsu as the dragon."

Now that Lucy thought about it, it is kinda similar.

"Just that this time, the dragon obviously did not do his job and the prince just waltz right in and swept the princess off her feet."

Lucy growled at the last line, finding it annoying.

"Well, now, he has been relived of his job and he can move on. So you should too." Cana suggested.

Lucy could not help but feel unsafe at that.

"That's not true, he still owes me 9 years." Lucy bargained.

Cana stared at the girl as she put two and two together. Taking a deep breath, she called out.

"Natsu Dragneel!"

Lucy stared at her bestfriend in disbelief.

"Cana!" She gaped.

Too late. The boy turned and stared at the girls curiously. Cana signaled for him to go over to them and after turning to notify Lisanna, he made his way to the girls.

"What's up?"

Cana looked to Lisanna and saw her hidding her pained expression a little too late. Turning back to Natsu, she continued.

"She your girlfriend?" Cana pointed in Lisanna's direction.

Lucy looked away as Natsu slowly nodded with a saddened smile. Cana smiled slyly. _Oh~ This is gonna be SO interesting._

"Well, I was wondering if you could tell me which guys are still single." Cana made up a reason on the spot, only to be reminded of her original motivation for this outing.

Natsu stared wide eyed at the girl and smiled understandingly.

"Well, I wouldn't recommend any of the guys here. They're all either taken or not worth dating."

"I heard that flame-breath!" Just then, a pair of swimming trunks flew into the pinkette's face.

Lucy screamed and turned away from the owner of the boxers while Cana just stared in disbelief at the sight.

Naked Gray.

"Dumbass! Don't throw your boxers in other people's face! It's disgusting!" Natsu yelled back in anger.

"Their not boxers! Their swimming trunks!" Gray countered with not so much luck.

"I don't think that's gonna save you from the embarrassment." Lucy mumbled, still looking away from Gray.

Noticing the huge attention he has garnered, Gray blushed and grabbed his swimming trunks from Natsu before running away, Juvia following closely behind him.

"That son of a..." Natsu was about to chase after Gray but a hand stopped him.

Turning to yell at the owner of the hand, Natsu froze when he identified the girl.

"E-Erza..."

"Leave him." She demanded.

"B-but..." Natsu tried to reason but stopped when he heard her reason.

"_**I'll**_ deal with him."

Everyone in the vicinity sweat-dropped. Then, in synchronisation, Natsu and Lucy chimed.

"Rest in peace."

Laughing at their reaction, Cana dragged the blonde away.

"Okay, let's think of a way to break you and Jason up and Natsu and Lisanna up." Cana whispered to Lucy in a corner.

"What?! Why?!" Lucy yelled almost too loudly.

"Well, you two have such good chemistry that it's almost a pity if you guys don't date!" She explained after signalling her to lower her voice.

"I-I don't know. It just doesn't seem right..."

Cana let out an exasperated sigh. How dense can this girl get?

"Okay, I tried. But seriously, don't regret it in the future." Cana warned while walking away to a group of guys.

Lucy stared at Cana's retreating figure as she pondered over her words. _Is it really okay to leave things like this?_ Just as she finished that thought, a head popped out of a near by rock, causing Lucy to nearly die that day out of a heart attack.

"M-Mr Clive! What are you doing here?!" Lucy gaped.

"My! If it isn't Lucy!" Gildarts straightened himself as he came out of his hiding spot as though he was hiding something. "You uh... friends with that girl?" Gildarts continued as he pointed to Cana.

Lucy only nodded slowly, unable to understand what he was getting at.

"I see, I see. Well, I better get going now. Got some unfinished business to tend to." Gildarts said as he slowly made his way away from the beach.

Lucy could only stare speechless as the man made his way out.

_Why did you even come for?_

* * *

That night, everyone stayed over at the hotel near the beach since no one wanted to head home just yet. After her bath, Lucy made her way back to the room she was sharing with Cana. Along the way, she felt her phone vibrate. She couldn't help but smile when she saw the owner of the message.

[JasonTheCoolKid] Heya! U home yet?  
[EverNormalLucy] Haha! Sry to disappoint, but nope. Every1 decided to sleep over at a nearby hotel ;)  
[JasonTheCoolKid] NOOO! Put my n.o on speedial this instant young lady! If anything happens, call ME immediately!

Lucy rolled her eyes with a smile. Over reacting Jason on the loose again! Everyone! Watch out!

[EverNormalLucy] Stop exaggerating! Plus, how would calling u help me in such a situation?  
[JasonTheCoolKid] Didn't u know? I installed a teleportation machine into ur phone which is connected to mine so that I can go to where u r immediately with a push of a button!  
[EverNormalLucy] Nice try genius.  
[JasonTheCoolKid] At least I tried.

Lucy giggled. Chatting with Jason always takes her mind off-

"Hey Lucy."

Great. Lucy turned to smile weakly at the stupid pinkette that always manages to find a way to dampen her spirits.

"Hey."

"Who are you texting?" Natsu questioned with a raised brow, seemingly annoyed at whoever that was on the other end of that phone.

"Jason." Lucy kept her answers short and sweet since she wanted to quickly return to the light hearted conversation with the said boy.

"Oh..." Natsu's frown seemed to deepen. Just as he said it, her phone vibrated and Lucy turned her attention to it only to be interrupted once more with a, "Can I have a moment?"

Lucy's heart sunk yet rose at the same time, making the girl confused.

Hesitantly, she replied, "Sure..."

The duet made their way to the public balcony that was fairly empty due to the late hour and the view had set quite an atmosphere. Lucy gasped at the view and immediately ran towards the balustrade. Natsu couldn't help but smile at the girl's innocence.

"Careful not to fall off!" Natsu warned teasingly.

"As if!" Lucy rolled her eyes to brush off that tease.

At that moment, the two of them forgot about their current position and regressed back to how they were when they were just 7 years old.

"How did the past 9 years treat you?" Lucy asked out of curiosity.

"Well... Things went from bad to worse without you at first..." Natsu started.

Lucy blushed.

"But, after I got into middle school, Makrov found me."

"Makarov? You mean the teacher in charge of FairyTail?"

"Yep! He was like, "Whatcha doing looking like your the most unfortunate guy on Earth?! I'll show you life!"." Natsu mimicked Makarov's voice while pumping his fist in the air.

Lucy giggled at the attempt.

"At first, I was like, "How do you think you can do that?". But he did it alright. And I'm glad he found me." Natsu explain appreciatively.

Lucy smiled gently at Natsu's gratefulness. Catching her smile, Natsu couldn't help but blush. The two started inching closer to one another. Their shoulders made contact but they didn't stop. They could feel each other's breath on each other's lips but they continued forward.

*Ring Ring Ring*

The duet jumped apart from each other. Lucy hastily picked up her phone and brought it to her ear.

"H-hello?" Lucy stammered.

"Hey! Are you okay?!" An anxious Jason sounded.

"H-huh? Yeah. Of course I'm fine! Why wouldn't I be?" The girl tried to calm her beating heart while Natsu looked away with a face as flushed as Lucy's.

"Well, you didn't reply my message so I called Cana to ask if you fell asleep but she said you're no where to be found!" Jason explained quickly.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was looking at the scenery from the balcony. It was so beautiful that I forgot about your message." Lucy apologised with a guilt filled voice.

She took a quick glance at Natsu to see his reaction but since his back was turned, she got nothing.

"A-Anyway, I'm fine, I'll talk to you another time." Lucy ended the conversation and before the boy could retort, she hung up.

"I-I guess we should head back. They must be worrying." Natsu stammered through his suggestion as well making Lucy inevitably grow redder.

The two decided it was best if they returned separately. When she reached the corridor outside her room, she saw a huge group gathered outside it. Worry plastered on their faces.

"Lucy! Where have you been?!" Cana asked in relief when she saw the blonde.

"Oh, uh..." Lucy did not know whether it would be wise to tell the truth.

Noticing her hesitation, Cana raised a brow and was about to question her but Lisanna beat her and asked about the missing pinkette, "Have you seen Natsu?"

"No. Why?" Lucy tried to sound as natural as possible but Cana caught the slight blush on her cheeks and let out a sly grin.

Just then, Natsu walked over and Lisanna immediately leaped into his arms, causing him to stumble back a little.

"H-Hey..." Natsu greeted awkwardly.

Lucy turned away to hide her pain and the rosy red on her cheeks as she keeps recalling what just happened when she sees his face. Cana notices the look and smiled mischievously.

"Okay, the missing people are back, let's back to our rooms and do what we usually do!" Cana yelled to the group and dragged Lucy back into their room.

"So, what happened?" Cana interrogated.

"W-What?! Nothing happened!" Lucy tried to swipe it aside.

"Oh come on Lucy! I've known you long enough to know when you're hiding something! Now, spill." Cana demanded.

"..."

"Oh? So this is how you wanna play it? Don't expect to get any sleep tonight." Cana warned with a sly grin that only made the blonde shiver in fear.

_Oh dear._

* * *

Okay people! Don't strangle me please . I know it's been a long time but I hope the length makes up for it. Well, please review ^^


	13. Breaking Up

"Urg..." Cana groaned.

"What's wrong Cana-chan?" Levy inquired in concern.

"That Lucy wouldn't tell me no matter what..."

"? Tell you what?" Levy was lost.

"I swear! She's hiding something!" Cana suddenly shot back up, earning a scared face from Levy.

And at the other end of the bus, Lucy sat exhausted with a concerned Wendy (Natsu's cousin) who took out her medication bag in hopes of finding something to soothe the blonde's pain.

"Are you okay?" Wendy asked in her usual innocent voice.

"Yeah... Cana was just very persistent that's all..."

"Lack of sleep?"

"Yeah."

Wendy took out sleeping pills for the blonde and after the said girl gladly accepted it, she made her way to Romeo. Looking at the little girl's retreating figure, Lucy couldn't help but think, _Ah~ young love._ Just then, she caught Natsu staring at her from the corner of her eyes and when they made eye contact, the two inevitably blushed and looked away. Unbeknownst to them, someone saw their reactions and was quite disturbed by it.

* * *

It had been a week since the beach outing and Natsu and Lisanna had not went on a date since. Deciding it was a little weird since Lisanna is usually the one who invites him on a date, Natsu called the girl.

"Hey, is everything alright?" The boy started.

"Huh? Oh. Yeah. Everything's okay." Lisanna reassured.

Finding her distracted self weird, Natsu pressed, "You sure?"

"Yeah!" Lisanna resumed her usual chirpy tone.

Reluctantly, Natsu dropped the case.

"By the way, it's been so long since we hanged, wanna go somewhere tomorrow?"

"No- Natsu Dragneel is the one inviting _me_ to a date?" Lisanna gasped dramatically and Natsu rolled his eyes in amusement.

"Well, if you don't want to I can always-" Natsu teased.

"Where to?" Lisanna cut in.

"Ha ha! Yeah, how 'bout the usual cafe?" Natsu suggested.

"Okay." Lisanna replied with obvious joy in her voice.

Clasping his phone, Natsu looked across his room and at his door where at the other side of the corridor was Lucy's room. Things went awkward since that night and Natsu couldn't help but feel hopeful but at the same time guilty. Opening his phone again, he dialled a number.

"Hey, can we meet up now?"

* * *

"So, you feel hopeful since there is a possibility that Lucy likes you too but you feel guilty since you're already dating Lisanna?" A gruffy voice sounded.

"Yeah... and I don't know what to do about it..." Natsu affirmed hesitantly.

"Simple. Break up with Lisanna." Gildarts answered with no hesitation.

"Say what?!" Natsu exclaimed so loudly, everyone in the current cafe they were in looked at their direction. Calming down, he continued, "I can't possibly hurt her like that! Plus, it's not even confirmed that Lucy might like me!"

"Look boy, you can't expect to remain clean anymore. This isn't about Lucy anymore. It's about being honest to yourself. If you don't like that girl, don't date her. Dating should only take place when both parties have mutual feelings, and obviously, that isn't the case here. So basically, you have already started off on the wrong footing and now, you're bound to have to break the news to her." Gildarts explained with unusual seriousness.

Listening closely, Natsu only felt his heart sink further.

"Is there... no other way?" He tried his luck.

"No." Gildart's voice remained serious and firm as he see the boy's frown dig deeper into his skin. "Well, at least you've learnt from this experience that love can't be forced." Gildarts continued with a more lighthearted tone.

Without easing the frown, Natsu smiled ironically and replied, "Yeah..."

* * *

"Hey! Natsu! Over here!" Lisanna called out to the clueless pinkette who was scanning the cafe for his girlfriend.

"Hey." Natsu smiled weakly as he waved back.

Noticing something was wrong with his attitude, Lisanna returned the smile.

After their meal, the couple started strolling down the pavement to digest the food they had in-took in the past hour.

"So... what do we do today? Arcade? Amusement park?" Lisanna asked as she danced ahead of Natsu.

"Arcade." Natsu replied quickly and calmly with sadness tinting his eyes.

Catching his gaze, Lisanna quickly looked away and pretended that she didn't see it.

"Okay."

At the arcade, Natsu suggested to take a purikura which Lisanna quietly agreed to. Through the atmosphere, the two silently understood what this purikura meant. This was going to be their last date.

"Okay, you write your message on this picture while I write mine on this one. Then, we'll exchange it." Lisanna explained with forced cheerfulness while Natsu nodded silently.

When they were done, they exchanged photos and promised each other to only read it when they're home and alone.

"Okay! I'm exhausted now! Let's call it a day!" Lisanna exclaimed while stretching which caused her to garner some attention from the surrounding people.

"Already? We only took a photo. Isn't there more that you wanna-" Before he could complete his sentence, Lisanna kissed Natsu to shut him up.

With a surprised look, Natsu stared at the girl with shock.

"It's okay already. This is enough." Lisanna confirm as she cupped Natsu's head in her hands and brought his forehead to touch hers. Then, jokingly, she added on, "Keep me any longer and I might get the wrong idea."

Painfully, Natsu apologised, "Sorr-"

"Don't apologise! I did not regret dating you at all. I wish to cherish every moment I spent with you as a couple. You weren't the best boyfriend, but you were the best friend I could ever have." Lisanna explained with an enlightened smile.

Smiling apologetically, Natsu replied, "Thank you."

With that, the two parted.

* * *

As Lisanna walked back, tears started welling up in her eyes but they just wouldn't fall.

_Don't cry. No crying. You knew this was coming since then._ She told herself repeatedly as she recalled how Lucy and Natsu made eye contact on the bus and the pink that tainted their faces soon after that.

Just then, the purikura fell out of her pocket and she picked it up to see the messy handwritten decoration on it that was beside a wide smiling Natsu with his fingers pushing the side of his lips up his face.

_Don't cry. You look better smiling ^^._

With that, Lisanna broke down and started her all out crying session while desperately trying to smile.

* * *

On the other hand, Natsu made it home safe but with guilt filled in his heart. Lucy was coming down when he stepped into the house but Natsu didn't notice her at all and brushed pass her. Slightly hurt, she took refuge in the kitchen by offering her services to Igneel.

Natsu fell on his bed and took out the purikura that Lisanna gave him and the message on it (Though filled with good intensions) only made him feel more guilty.

_I hope everything goes well between you and Lucy! Love, Lisanna._

Putting the purikura on the table, Natsu entered deep thought.

_Did I do the right thing?_

That night, the trio entered sleep with broken hearts in one way or another.

* * *

Okay, I know it's short and I took forever, but I hope that you enjoyed this chapter =) I know it's kinda heartbreaking for some to see the two break up but remember, no one is really in the wrong. We're all victims of circumstances. And if things are at the lowest, then things can only get better after that. ;) Kay, that's enough philosophy from me ^^. Please review!


	14. Getting Closer?

"Hey, Natsu!" Gray called out to the pinkette who was spacing out in class.

"What?!" The said boy growled back in annoyance.

"Erza is calling you." Gray explained while pointing to Erza who was waiting outside the classroom with his thumb.

"Eh?" Natsu shot up timidly.

No wonder Gray was calling him by his proper name instead of those weird nicknames that are usually the catalyst of their fights.

"W-why is she calling me?" Natsu questioned politely with fear tinted in his voice.

"Dunno. Go figure it out yourself." Gray brushed him off.

Outside the classroom, Natsu started trembling not because of the usual fear he gets from Erza's threats but because of the goosebumps he was getting from the scarlet haired demon's behaviour. She was twiddling her thumbs and blushing profusely.

"W-What's wrong?" Natsu decided to speak up first since the other party didn't seem like she was going to anytime soon.

"Wrong?! What's wrong?! Nothing's wrong!" Erza screamed while steam gushed out of her ears and her face turned as red as her hair.

"I-Is that so?" Natsu sweat dropped as he decided to pull out from this wacked out conversation.

"WAIT!" Erza stopped the retreating boy with a tight grip on his wrist which made the said boy yelp in pain.

"Y-Yeah?" Natsu just barely managed to make out the word without screaming.

"I...I need help..." Erza stammered.

Natsu raised a brow. The self-esteemed Student Council Vice-President was asking _him_ for help? Okay, something's awfully wrong.

"O-Okay..." The boy started slowly, "With what?"

Looking away to calm herself down, Erza took a deep breath.

"Je...me...te..."

"Say wah?" Natsu couldn't catch a word she was saying.

"Jellal...date..." Out of the whole sentence, Natsu only caught two words and his assumptions decided to do all the work.

"Uh...You need help asking Jellal on a date?" Natsu shot a not so wild guess since it was no secret how Erza always had a thing for their senior who is the Student Council President, Jellal Fernandez.

However, Erza shook her head.

Thinking hard again, he tried another shot, "Uh...Another girl asked Jellal on a date? Don't tell me you want me to do something to the girl-" Before Natsu's assumption could bring them any further from the right track, Erza shook her head feverishly once more.

"Okay, I give up. Seriously, what is it?" Natsu raised both hands in defeat.

"Jellal...sked...me...date..." Erza mumbled out once more, earning a distressed groan from Natsu.

"Seriously woman! You gotta speak up!"

"JELLAL ASKED ME ON A DATE!"

"..." There was an awkward silence that followed shortly after which suffocated the scarlet girl quite badly.

"REACT DAMNIT!" Snapped the girl when she finally couldn't take it.

"Ah... I just...Don't understand how this relates to me." Natsu explained scratching the back of his head while mentally adding, _or see what he sees in you_.

Erza looked to the ground and started drawing circle on it with the tip of her shoes uncharacteristically, causing more goosebumps to form on the boy's skin.

"Well... This is gonna be my first date and..."

Wincing in an attempt to prompt the girl to be quick about it, Natsu prodded, "Yeah...?"

"I suggested to go on a double date instead." Erza shot out with sudden speed that seemed to have came out of nowhere, causing the boy to step back in shock.

Recovering from the sudden change in speed, Natsu continued, "I still don't see how I fit into things."

"I was hoping you and Lisa-"

"Not gonna happen." Natsu shot the girl down immediately, earning a death glare and iron grip on his collar that pulled his face near her on-stand-by fist.

"Oh? And why not?" Erza's tone was filled with the equal amount of malice her eyes contained.

"I-I broke up with her just yesterday!" Natsu quickly explained before her fist meet his face or the other way round; either way hurts.

Letting the pinkette go, she continued with an unsurprised expression, "Oh. I see. Pity."

"WHAT'S WITH THAT HALF-ASSED REACTION?!"

Turning on her heels, Erza started making her way to Lucy's class.

"Since you're so useless, I guess I'll have to rely on Lucy and Jason instead."

"THEN DON'T COME TO ME IN THE FIRST PLACE!" Natsu complained in an attempt to hide the hurt he felt when Lucy and Jason was mentioned.

"*Sigh* I wish I didn't." Erza agreed as she waved a nonchalant goodbye without even turning to face the annoyed boy.

With a blank expression, the boy continued to stare at the scarlet's retreating figure.

_A double date huh..._

* * *

"Lucy!"

"Erza?! Why-" Lucy questioned in surprise as she made her way to the girl who called her.

"I know you suggested Natsu and Lisanna instead but that **stupid** boy was useless; he broke up with Lisanna yesterday." Apparently, Erza found it necessary to stress on 'stupid'.

"EH?!" Lucy was completely caught off guard. _They did? Don't tell me it's because Lisanna found out about that night..._**  
**

Lucy's face couldn't help but heat up after recalling about that night. However, it was short-lived as a certain brown haired boy's voice became a reminder to her that she should be feeling guilty.

"Really? That's a pity. They seemed like a great couple." Jason commented harmlessly.

"Y-Yeah..." Lucy half-heartedly agreed. _They did, didn't they?_

"So... It seems like _we'll_ have to take up that offer huh?" Jason hinted anticipation to Lucy as he said it.

"Haha! Yeah." Lucy agreed as she winked back at the brunette.

"Really?! Thank you!" Erza thanked the two profusely as she made her way back to class since lunch break was almost over before realising how her strawberry cake still sat untouched in her lunch box.

With her stomach growling, she glared at the pinkette who was still staring out of the window blankly.

_Now, where's the bat?_

* * *

It was in the evening of the next day where the date was held in a cafe near their school grounds.

"Lucy!" Erza called out rather enthusiastically as compared to her usual self. Jellal who noticed her change in attitude couldn't help but smile at that.

"Erza!" Lucy called back in recognition.

"What about me?" Jason sweat-dropped as he followed closely behind his girlfriend.

Ignoring the brunette, Erza introduced Lucy to her crush.

"This is Lucy, one of my few trustworthy friends." She boasted pridefully, earning a blush from the said blonde.

Jellal stood up and shook hands politely with the girl while introducing himself.

"Hi, I'm Jellal-"

"The Student Council President. I know, I heard _a lot_ about you from this girl here." Lucy interrupted and pointed towards Erza to hint something.

Blushing, Jellal continued while scratching the back of his head, "I-Is that so?"

"Hi. I'm Jason. Jason Kenway. Nice to meet you." Jason decided to introduce himself since he realised no one else would.

"Ah, I see, you're Lucy's boyfriend I presume." Jellal identified as he shook hands with the lad.

"Yes."

Seeing the formal conversation between the two gentlemen, the two girls felt really out of place.

"C'mon! Don't be so formal!" Lucy suggested while patting Jason's back.

Smiling at the girl's enthusiasm, Jason nodded. Throughout the double date, the couples first talked about themselves, then each other, then school and it ended up being a talk about how to improve the school. As expected from the heads of the Student Council.

"U-Uh... I think we should end here today... It _is_ getting quite late..." Lucy interrupted as the two members of the Student Council continued to discuss about the school's maintenance.

"Huh? Oh, that is true." Erza stopped herself as she looked at her watch.

After the four made their way out of the cafe, Lucy and Jason purposely excused themselves to make sure Jellal take Erza home.

"That was... interesting..." Jason tried to comment without offending the couple they were with.

"Yeah." Lucy laughed weakly at the remark since she herself couldn't deny it.

As they made their way to Lucy's current home, they walked by a normal park. Well, normally they'll just walk by but this time, something that was happening in the park caught their attention.

"Son of a-!" Before the vulgarity could be completed, a fist landed in the speaker's face.

Lucy gasped when the two made contact but what shocked her wasn't the violence but the owner of the fist.

"WHAT DID YA SAY?!" The said man exclaimed as he brought his fist up once more to land it on the man's already bleeding face.

"NATSU!" Lucy called out to the boy who was obviously lost in irrational anger.

The pinkette turned in surprise to the blonde. Using that chance, the badly beaten lad ran off. Natsu cursed under his breath as he picked himself up to chase after the escaper but the blonde halted him.

"NATSU!"

Growling, the furious kid turned back to the girl.

"WHAT?!" Natsu's voice hinted provocation that the girl ignored.

"What on Earthland happened here?! You looked like you were about to rip that man's throat out!" Lucy demanded for explanation as she made her way to where the pinkette was, Jason following closely behind.

"I _was_." Natsu admitted as he turned to glare at the direction the man ran off in as though he hadn't given up on that idea.

Jason reached out to hold Lucy back from the beast but she waved him off and continued forward.

"What happened?" This time, the girl asked gently since she could sense something was obviously wrong with the boy.

Natsu said nothing but just stared at Jason coldly from the corner of his eyes. Getting the message, Lucy turned to the brunette.

"Sorry, this'll do for today, you don't have to walk me any further." She apologised with hands clapped together and brought up to the front of her face.

"Are you sure?" Jason questioned in concern which earned him a glare from the simmering boy.

However, he didn't back down, instead, he glared back. Noticing the tension between the two, Lucy quickly pushed the brunette away while repeatedly assuring him that she'll be okay. When the boy was finally gone, Lucy turned to injured pinkette who's wounds were earned from his previous scuffle. Seeing quite the bleed-fest coming from the kid's right bicep, Lucy took out her handkerchief to make a temporary bandage around the wound.

As she did, the patient whispered a soft 'thanks'. Feeling a little warm inside, the girl smiled.

"C'mon, let's get you home." Lucy looked at the boy, smile still gracing her face.

"Yeah." Natsu returned the smile.

* * *

When the two made it back, Lucy immediately demanded that the boy take a shower to clean his wounds. When the boy refused and complained about how it'd sting, the girl challenged his manhood and he immediately went into the showers.

"I'm done!" Natsu boasted in triumph as he jumped out of the shower with only his shorts on.

"Mm. Very impressive." Lucy commented indifferently while sipping on a cup of hot coffee she made for herself.

"LIAR!"

All that said and done, Lucy got up from the kitchen table and instructed the boy to sit while she grabbed the first aid kit. Unquestioningly, he did as he was told. When Lucy started dressing his wounds, she heaved a sigh of relief to find most of the wounds to be superficial cuts.

"Aren't you gonna ask what happened?" The boy questioned.

"I did. And I'm still waiting for an answer." Lucy replied as-a-matter-of-factly.

"..."

"..."

"Do you know about the Phantom Lord Academy?" Natsu finally started.

Searching hard through her knowledge, Lucy winced, "I feel like I've heard of them..."

"They are our rivals."

"We have such things?!" Lucy was taken aback.

"Yeah..." Natsu continued while keeping his gaze to the table, "They'll always find someways to provoke us and start a fight."

Lucy held her breath and listened. She could tell that right now, what Natsu really needed was a listening ear.

"This time, some random guy came over and started bad mouthing Igneel and-" Natsu started railing up towards the end and Lucy decided to cut him off before he snapped a second time.

"You hit him."

Calming down, he continued, "Yeah..."

"Who was that kid?" Lucy questioned quite curiously.

"Some lackey of Gajeel's." Natsu replied indifferently.

"EH?! Your cousin's?!" Lucy was once again taken aback.

Amused by her reaction, Natsu turned to the girl and affirmed, "Yeah. Is it really that surprising?"

"Well... yeah... I mean you guys are family right?"

"Yeah, well, not to him." Natsu's expression returned to a cold one.

"Oh..." Lucy felt a little guilty after recalling that they weren't blood related.

"In any case, it was nothing. This kind of thing happens every once in awhile." Natsu stood up the moment Lucy plastered the last band aid.

As Natsu made his way out of the kitchen, Lucy started packing the mess she made to treat the boy's wound. Pausing at the corridor, he caught Lucy's attention.

"What's wrong?"

"It's just... I'm sorry."

"For what?" Lucy felt like she's been taken a lot by surprise in one day that it's starting to lose its effectiveness.

"For... making you worry..." Without facing the girl, he made his way to his room to hide his flushed face.

A little flushed herself, Lucy decided to give her utmost attention to the first aid kit at hand. Little by little, she felt like she was starting to actually _know_ the boy and that no doubt made her heart flutter in many directions. However, whether it was the right direction or not, she had no idea.

* * *

YAY! FINALLY DONE WITH THIS CHAPTER! I met a writer's block in this chapter and that made me take this long just to get this done. And I won't deny that I at some point kinda forgot about this story BUT here it is now.

Another thing to note, someone suggested I change the title of the story and I kinda agree. I mean the focus on the story is no longer about whether Natsu is normal or not anymore... so I kinda wanna know what y'all think. Review? I'd really appreciate it =) Till next chapter ^^


	15. The Past and The Presents

It was a few days before christmas and people were starting to fill the streets looking for a gift for their special someones. At a certain shopping mall, a blonde and two brunettes stalked the grounds of that 'holy' place.

"You know, you really shouldn't have come." Lucy condemned her boyfriend.

"Well, I ain't gonna leave you till you tell me what happened that day after I left." Jason explained.

"Woah woah woah. Is there something I should know?" Cana interrupted the lover's spat.

"Yeah Lucy, is there something _she_ should know?" Jason asked 'innocently'.

Rolling her eyes, Lucy reassured, "No, there isn't. Now leave so that I can get you a gift without spoiling the surprise!"

"No."

"Urg! Don't be so stubborn!" Lucy groaned in tire as she made her umpteenth attempt to chase the boy away.

"But-"

"Okay lover boy, I'm gonna have to get you to leave cause I kinda wanna get this started." Cana demanded as she pushed the brunette away.

"W-wait!" Realising that resistance is futile, Jason picked himself up and made his way off, "Fine!"

"Thanks."

"Oh, don't thank me too soon, I plan to know _everything_. And I mean _everything_." Cana announced with a sly look in her eye.

* * *

"Heh~ That dense boy had such a screwed up family huh..." Cana commented while sipping on her cup of coke with her head in hands.

The two girls settled nicely in a cafe as Lucy desperately tried to explain about the event that occurred the day before without arousing suspicion or revealing the past Natsu so hate to talk about. When she did, Lucy heaved a sigh of relief and decided to reward herself with her cup of coffee.

"Why didn't you want to tell Jason that?" Cana asked, straw still sitting on her lip.

"Well... I don't know... It just didn't feel comfortable to do so..." Lucy staggered through her explanation, a little baffled herself now that she thought about it.

"Heh~" Cana bit her straw as she grinned all-knowingly, "Uncomfortable huh~"

"What?!" Lucy questioned back being a little curious herself.

"Nothing~" Cana teased as she turned away from the blonde who pouted the moment she did.

Deciding to change the pace, Cana stood up from her seat and suggested with a wink, "C'mon, lets get your boyfriend that gift."

Smiling, Lucy stood up and followed after her friend.

"So, what are you planning to get him?" Cana started as they weaved through the crowds and past shops.

"Well... I was planning to get him a book but..."

"Girl, that's the last thing any normal boy wants."

"Jason's not normal."

"But he isn't a weirdo."

Lucy frowned.

"Are you implying something?"

"Glad you picked that up."

"I'm not weird!" Lucy denied but paused for a bit before continuing, "Am I?"

Cana laughed but didn't answer and Lucy could only pout at that. She looked up at the skyroof. The clouds drifted without a care in the world and as each fluffy puff made their way past the panels of the roof, Lucy started recalling how she met her bestfriend and boyfriend, not knowing that her friend was doing the same.

* * *

_"C'mon! Let's go! The others are waiting for us!" A boy yelled._

_His name was Jason if she recalled correctly._

_"Wait up!" A girl yelled back, annoyance obviously tinted in her voice._

_Her name was Cana if she recalled correctly._

_It was the end of another day in elementary school and majority of the students made their way to the baseball field for a round of fun. It didn't matter. As a matter of fact, very little did ever since he left. He didn't even say a goodbye. Not a word, not a letter, not a thing. Just gone._

_"Stupid Natsu." She mumbled under her breath._

_Her stubby little fingers ran along the sides of the pages of the book she forgot to return to Igneel. Her face heats up as she recalled holding hands with the boy. Towards the end of the page, she cuts herself. Her hands recoiled upon instinct and she put it in her mouth._

_"Here."_

_She looks up, a little taken aback by the sudden aproach._

_"Take it." The boy from before urges her to accept the band-aid at hand._

_A little hesitant, she takes it._

_"Thanks..."_

_As soon as she does, the girl from before called out._

_"Jason! What are you doing?! Let's go!"_

_So she did recall correctly._

_"I know! I'm coming!" The boy shouts, directing it to the girl before turning back to her, "Bye."_

_"Bye..."_

_Lucy successfully completes the basic salutations and awes at that fact, however, the girl who was at the door glares coldly at her, causing her to recoil back to her shell._

_The next day, the boy goes to her again._

_"Hi."_

_"Hi..."_

_She was still not used to it, but he was determined to make that change. A certain girl, on the other hand, was not._

_After a few days, the girl drags her to a corner._

_"Do you like Jason?" The girl asks Lucy._

_"Like?" Lucy blinks at the word._

_It wasn't foreign, she just didn't see the connection._

_"I'm asking if you love him!" The girl raises her voice, slightly annoyed._

_"No." Lucy answered indifferently._

_She wasn't being rude, she was just honest and Cana liked that._

_She laughs._

_"I see. Well, I do."_

_Lucy blushes._

_"You do?"_

_"Yep, I do." Cana confirms confidently._

_"But how do you know if you do?" Lucy asks, getting a little inquisitive._

_Cana blinked twice._

_"I don't know."_

_Lucy sweat-drops._

_"Huh?"_

_"I just do." Cana bargained._

_The two started talking. Cana was the kind who was honest and doesn't hesitate to put her thoughts into words, despite the fact that people could get hurt by it and Lucy didn't mind that. It made her feel like she could trust her. Lucy on the otherhand, was the kind who keeps all her emotions bottled up and hesitant to speak, afraid that she would offend someone and Cana wanted to change that._

_Polar opposites but they fit together like gloves tailored to the hands._

_"Aren't you girls awfully close." Jason comments._

_Lucy blushes at that comment. She never really had someone she was this close to. Noticing her blush, Cana grinned and gave the girl a big bear hug before turning to the other brunette._

_"Why? Jealous?"_

_Blushing, Jason turned away and denied._

_"Hell no!"_

_"Then why are your cheeks red?"_

_"It's the sunset's fault!"_

_With that yelled, the boy sprinted away. Lucy giggled at the scene. For once since Natsu left, she felt normal. And boy did she love that feeling. However, being normal meant there are ups and downs and Lucy never knew how to deal with such things._

_"Hey Cana..." Jason called for the brunette's attention._

_"What?" Cana acknowledged while stuffing a sausage in her mouth._

_"I think... I like Lucy."_

_Cana froze. It was their first year in middle school._

_After awhile of silence, the girl probed._

_"So?"  
_

_Jason didn't look at the girl he just stared at the senery that were bistowed to them everytime they ate on the roof._

_"I'm thinking of confessing to her."_

_"Don't."_

_"Huh?"_

_Jason turned to her, confusion evidently in his eyes._

_"Lucy doesn't like you. You'd only shoot yourself in the foot."_

_"Well, how do you know that?" Jason fought back defensively._

_Cana paused. She couldn't say it. Then, she recalled one time when Lucy told her about Natsu and the way her eyes glimmered when she did._

_"Cause she already has someone she likes. "_

_No! She screams to herself in her head. Lucy wouldn't like to have something like this told to someone else._

_She felt dirty._

_"Who is he?"_

_For the first time since they started this topic, they made eye contact._

_"I don't know." She lies._

_"Cana, I've known you long enough to know when you're lying."_

_She frowns._

_"I can't tell you!"_

_She runs away. He reaches out to catch her but she slips away._

_"Someone she... likes..." __Jason stays frozen at his spot as he mumbles to himself._

_"Idiot..." __Cana mumbles to herself as she runs down the stairs, wiping the tears from her eyes._

_"No..." Lucy mumbles to herself, standing in the dark corner beside the door to the roof._

* * *

"How 'bout this?" Cana pulls out a black leather jacket from the shelf.

Lucy's face wince in hesitation.

"But wouldn't it make him look like a delinquent?

"There's brown too." Cana pulls out another one as she says it.

Lucy's face brighten up.

"It fits!" They squeal in unison.

* * *

_"Lucy, I like you! Please go out with me!" A random boy screams in the now empty hallway._

_"I'm sorry." Lucy shoots the boy down with a respectful bow, face showing no emotions._

_Crying, the boy ran off to wherever his sanctuary was._

_"Wow, to think that in the past you'd feel guilty and show some hesitation before shooting someone down." Jason commented as he stepped out of the classroom she was next to._

_"Eavesdropping is not a good hobby." Lucy replies coldly without even looking at the boy in the eye._

_Jason steps back due to the ice in her voice._

_"Did I do something wrong?"_

_Lucy frowned but said nothing and awkward silence settles itself nicely in the evening air._

_"L-Lucy...?"_

_If there's one think Jason learnt about Lucy, it's that cold and angry Lucy is not normal._

_"You made Cana cry."_

_His blood froze._

_"I did?"_

_Lucy glares at the boy before picking her bag up and running off. Before she turns to the stairs and jumps out of sight, she turns around and shouts at the very confused boy._

_"IDIOT!"_

* * *

"Ah~! I'm so tired!" Cana lets out a heave of relief as she plopped into a chair in the same café from before.

"Haha! We did get a lot of things." Lucy agrees as she did the same into another chair.

"We? You mean you. _I_ barely got anything!" Cana points out to the heaps of bags sitting next to Lucy and then to one that sited beside her.

Smiling sheepishly, Lucy avoids Cana's annoyed gaze.

"Well, there are many people I need to get presents for."Lucy bargains and starts, "Like Erza, Levy-chan, Wendy-chan-"

Cana places a hand in front of the blonde.

"Okay, don't start."

A pause ensued before Cana starts again.

"By the way, what did you get for Natsu?"

Lucy's eyes glimmered.

"A scarf!"

"A scarf?" Cana echoed.

"Yeah!" Lucy affirms as she fiddles through one of the shopping bags to pull out a checkered scarf, "It's the same pattern as Igneel's favourite shirt!"

Head in hand, Cana shakes it.

"What?"

"Nothing. I'm not going to comment on this." Cana states with an exasperated sigh.

"But really, you find Natsu a gift with ease and yet go through so much trouble for Jason's?"

Lucy lets out a guilty look.

"Well... I just don't know what kind of stuff would he like..."

The two go silent.

_Stuff he would like huh..._ Cana thinks to herself.

* * *

_"Even if I do, what's it to you?" Jason snaps at his childhood friend._

_The brunette grit her teeth before snapping back._

_"It's a mistake I tell you! You don't even like her! You only pity her!"_

_A hand runs across her cheek. It stings._

_"I... know very well how to evaluate my own feelings." __Jason pants heavily as he says it gravely._

_Cana's eyes remain __unvisible as she continues to look at the direction her head was forced to turn to._

_"You... are the most stupid, idiotic, retarded childhood friend anyone can ever have!" Cana yells as she runs away._

_Jason doesn't give chase. He just stands and stares at his palm._

_What have I done?_

* * *

"Okay, I'll be going this way." Lucy turns to the direction her finger pointed to.

"Wait." Cana stops the girl.

Fiddling through her shopping bag, she takes out a box that is slightly too big for her palm to hold. It was nicely wrapped in glossy green wrapping paper followed by standard glittery red ribbons with golden essence. On it was a christmas card addressed to Jason.

Lucy smiles at the gift as she took it over.

"Help me pass it to the idiot." Cana says with a wink.

She winks back and Cana walks away. Lucy stays behind and stares at the box, guilt brimming from her heart.

As Cana walks on, she opens her phone to see 5 unread messages from the same sender. All at different times.

[JasonTheCoolKid] Did Lucy tell you about what happened?  
[JasonTheCoolKid] Hello?  
[JasonTheCoolKid] Can you please tell me?  
[JasonTheCoolKid] Did something happen?  
[JasonTheCoolKid] Cana?

She laughs to no one in particular, earning curious gazes from her surrounding. Closing her phone, she walks on with a smile on her face.

_This is your punishment._

* * *

Okay, so the new chapter is out! Along with the new cover and title! ^^ Personally, I'm very pleased with my new work and all. Especially this chapter! I'll be shedding more light on how Lucy and Jason got together subsequently but until then, enjoy ;) Review!


	16. Memories

_What have I done?_

_He thinks to himself._

_He hears quickening footsteps behind him. He turns just in time to see golden locks of hair before an impact so strong threw him to the ground. He holds his cheek._

_"IDIOT!"_

_He stares flabbergasted at the sight. Crying Lucy._

_"Lu-"_

_She runs off._

_"Wait!"_

_He reaches out but misses her hand and she disappears into the corridor._

_Really, what have I done?_

_He thinks to himself once more._

_"Cana!"_

_The said girl dries her tears furiously before turning to the voice._

_"Whaddup!" She flashes a huge grin._

_She doesn't fool the girl._

_"I'm sorry!"_

_Cana's lost._

_"For what?"_

_She said nothing. She just cried and cried and Cana kept trying to calm her down but to no avail. Giving up, she just hugged the girl as tears streamed down her own face._

_The next day, Cana goes to school all happy, garnering the attention of her two bestfriends._

_"You... okay?" Jason threads carefully but earns a glare from the girl._

_"Cana?" Lucy threads carefully too but Cana flashes the same grin from yesterday._

_"Heya!"_

_A little relaxed by her unhostile tone, Lucy smiles back at the girl._

_"So... why are you so happy?" Lucy continues to tread carefully._

_Well, because of a certain** idiot** who spoiled my mood yesterday..." Cana glared at the boy when she said 'idiot' but returned to a smile when she turned back to the blonde. "I went to a bar-"_

_"Oi! That's not normal!" Jason cuts in but gets completely ignored by the girl._

_Lucy sweat-drops._

_"And a handsome man came to heal my broken heart." This time, Cana was pratically over dramatic._

_Lucy frowns._

_"What heart broken? It's not like I was breaking your heart or anything." Jason mumbles to himself._

_Big mistake._

_The two girls glared at the boy even more feverishly this time. He backs off, two hands in front of himself._

_"So Lucy, do you think you can come with me tonight?" Cana invites, turning her head back to the girl._

_She blinks._

_"Huh?"_

_"Well, you see, I'm kind of scared to go on a date with him alone so I was hoping that you could come along as well." Cana's tone went back to being over dramatic._

_"Hell no!" Jason cuts in overprotectively. "If she goes, I'll go too."_

_"Tsk" Cana clicks her tongue while facing away from the boy._

_"Tsk?! Did you just tsk me?!" Jason points a finger at the girl accusingly._

_Lucy stood at the sideline watching the two. It's like they're pretending to be okay. And Lucy..._

_Didn't like that._

* * *

She opens her eyes slowly to feel a finger push her fringe to the side of her face.

"Natsu?"

The said boy grins when his name was called.

"Yeah?" He whispers.

"How long was I asleep?" Lucy asks as she picks herself off the library table.

Natsu looked at his watch before answering.

"About half an hour."

Lucy gasps as she quickly pick up her pen.

"Why didn't you wake me up?! This report is due tomorrow!" Lucy complains in a hushed tone.

Natsu frowns a bit.

"I did. But you didn't wake up so I let you sleep."

Biting her lower lip, Lucy begins her mad rush against time.

"I'm bored." The pinkette loosely comments, earning himself a glare from the preoccupied girl.

"Entertain yourself." The girl commands.

"I can't. I don't read." The boy strugs it off.

"Remind me how you got into highschool." Lucy question the boy skeptically.

"Shear luck my friend, shear luck." He replies with a grin.

Rolling her eyes, she picked up a pocket sized book and hands it to him.

"Which part of _'I don't read'_ did you not get?" Natsu asks with a raised brow.

Without looking up from her paper, she says, "All of it."

This time, it was Natsu's turn to roll his eyes. He takes the book from the girl's hand reads the cover.

_Agatha Christie: Death on the Nile_

Classic.

* * *

_"What do you mean by it's okay?! It's obviously not okay!"_

_For the first time in her life, Cana heard Lucy raise her voice and it was directed at her._

_"It's okay Lucy." She stands firm with her stand._

_"But-" The girl was at the brink of tears._

_"Besides, that boy don't deserve my love." Cana reassured with a forced smile._

_Lucy breaks down but Cana stood strong, repeatedly comforting the girl that everything is okay and everything will be okay. Lucy just nods weakly in her arms._

_That night, Cana walked Lucy home. Lucy sent her butler away just so that they would have some privacy._

_"Lucy."_

_"Yes?"_

_"I want you to promise me one thing."_

_She hesitates but agrees nonetheless._

_"Okay."_

_"When Jason confess to you. Answer honestly. Not for me, not for him but from your heart. Okay?"_

_Lucy furrows her brow. Honestly speaking, she really did not like Jason in that manner. But she said okay and now, she'll have to keep the promise._

_"Okay."_

* * *

"Man that was a long day!" Natsu streched as he stepped out of the library, pausing to let Lucy catch up with him.

"Long? You barely did anything!" Lucy complained but Nastu strugged it off.

"What can I say, watching your sleeping face is exhausting." Natsu teased with glee.

Playfully punching the boy, Lucy pouts.

"What did you dream about?" The boy asks.

"Huh?" Lucy was a little caught off gaurd.

Blushing, the boy scratches his head and looks away from the girl.

"Well... you seemed to be in pain when you were sleeping so I thought maybe you were having a nightmare..."

Lucy paused for a bit, hesitant to share what she recalled.

"It was nothing. Just some... bad memories."

* * *

_"Hey." Jason calls out to Lucy._

_"Hey." Lucy smiles weakly._

_There was a suffocating pause. Jason's eyes were filled with sorrow and Lucy's eyes were filled with pain. Not the best combination to talk about what he wants but he does it nonetheless._

_"I know that I've been a jerk."_

_Lucy nods._

_"And I've been very inconsiderate."_

_Lucy nods once more._

_"But I want you to know that despite everything that happened, I really do like you. And if you give me the chance, I can help you forget about him."_

_Lucy stays motionless and it gets Jason on edge._

_"Okay! I know I'm not the best man but I honestly-"_

_"Okay." She interupts._

_She knows that she doesn't like Jason in the romantic way, but Cana probably would have wanted this. She knows she still likes him, but maybe, maybe Jason could really help her forget about him._

_*Ring*_

_"Hello?"_

_No one speaks._

_"Hello?" Lucy asked again, wondering why there wasn't any response._

_Silence continued._

_Annoyed, Lucy warned, "Okay, if this is a prank call, I'm hanging up!"_

_Still, the silence continued. Sighing, she hung up. What was that about?_

_Lisanna hung up, wondering who the owner of the voice was. Was that his girlfriend? She sat in front of her phone, contemplating what to do next._

* * *

Her phone vibrates.

[JasonTheCoolKid] Hey beautiful. You home?

She smiles into her phone and the pinkette turns away.

[EverNormalLucy] Almost.  
[JasonTheCoolKid] Haha! That's good =) How was the report?  
[EverNormalLucy] Nothing I can't handle ;)  
[JasonTheCoolKid] That's my girl ^^  
[EverNormalLucy] Haha! Kk, gd night =)  
[JasonTheCoolKid] *Pout* Night =(

Closing her phone, she turns to the pinkette but he avoids eye contact.

"Sorry." She blurts but is immediately taken aback by her own words.

At least, she wasn't the only one. Natsu stared at the girl in confusion.

"Sorry for what?"

Lucy begins fiddling with her hair in embarrassment.

"I-I don't know..."

_But you do._ A voice in her head tells her.

When she turned back to the boy, she immediately took a step back due to their closeness.

"Are you sure?" He asks, a sort of darkness in his eyes, a sort of... desire.

She doesn't speak, afraid that her own voice would only betray her, so she just nods while avoiding eye contact. He moves in closer and she's up against a wall. No escape. They hold the position for a while, both holding their breaths until the other gives up. Lucy's heart rate increased so rapidly she felt like her heart was going to implode, not knowing that the other party was facing the same issue.

Then, he steps away from her.

Her heart sank almost immediately but it calmed down. She looks to him to see if she angered him, but his back faced her. Assuming she did, she apologises to him once more.

"Sorry." This time, both parties apologised.

After a while of staring at each other in shock, they start laughing.

"Let's go." Natsu suggests after calming down from the laughing.

Smiling, the two made their way back home where Igneel's product sat waiting for them on the table.

* * *

Wow, three chapters in one week, I'm on a roll here. But well, just take it as make up for not uploading for almost 1 month. I'm not sure when would be the next time I upload but don't bet on it cause this girl here is an o level candidate =) K, till next time ;) Review!


	17. Christmas Search

**Lucy's P.O.V**

I love pencils. They accomplish the same job as pens but they never leave a trace of mistake. One stroke from an eraser and all mistakes would vanish without a trace. I wish my life was like a pencil mark; for me to erase all my past mistakes and rewrite my story. But that's a wishful thinking. Wishful thinking that will never be fulfilled. And now, I'll have to pay the price for my mistakes.

*Ring*

It was 6 in Christmas morning when my phone rang. Not pleasant. I quickly picked it up before anyone else in the house get affected by the off season call.

"Hello?" I answered sleepily.

"Geh heh. Are you the pretty boy's girlfriend?"

My eyes flew wide open.

"Gajeel?"

"Eh? This voice... You're that bomb-shelled blonde from the beach?"

I was fully awake at this point.

"What are you doing?" My voice was filled with alarm.

Before Gajeel could speak, I took a good look at the caller ID since the last time I checked, Gajeel did not have my number.

[Jason Kenway]

_No!_

"Why do you have Jason's phone?" I asked, faking composure.

"Well aren't you a calm one. Well, we should talk. No. I stand corrected. I have something to settle with my dear cousin. Do you think you could help me and him meet?" There was obvious sarcasm in Gajeel's voice.

"Why don't you do it yourself?" I was beyond annoyed at this point.

I could feel a smirk from the other end of the phone when I heard a "Geh heh" but did all I could to not flare up at the man; last thing I want is for them to get the satisfaction of angering me.

"Well, lets just say salamander there have been quite busy with... things." I could hear irritation towards the end of the sentence and couldn't help but let out a smug smile.

"And what if I say no?"

I let the moment get to me and forgot the fact that I was at their mercy.

"Well then pretty boy here ain't gonna get home so pretty after all, ain't he?" He taunted.

I frowned.

"You-!"

Darn. I lost my cool and that was not good.

"GEH HEHEHEHEHEHEH! Don't get your pants in a fix blondie! Just bring me the salamander and I'll let pretty boy here get home with his pretty face."

It was annoying but they got me.

"Fine."

"Geh heh. That's a wise choice."

The moment I closed my phone, I heard my bed room door creak open and immediately turned to the source of that noise and saw Natsu making his way through the door.

"Hey." He started.

"Hey..." I couldn't help but freeze at where I sat.

He made his way beside me and sat down on my bed, eyes never leaving mine.

"You... heard?"

He nodded before adding, "I have... sensitive ears."

Smiling wryly, I changed my position such that I was sitting side by side with the boy.

"Gajeel... wants to see you." I start slow.

Natsu remained silent. I guess it's not very nice to do this. I must've struck a nerve.

"Sor-"

"Where?"

"Huh?"

I'm sorry, I didn't think I heard correctly...

"Where is he holding your boyfriend?" Natsu was starting to sound a tad bit angry.

"How did yo-"

I was cut off again and this time he sounded like he was going to snap.

"Just tell me where he has the man!"

I quickly covered his mouth and looked pass my slightly ajar door. He seemed to get my drift and we both held our breaths and strained our ears to see if we have roused Igneel.

Nothing.

Releasing his mouth, we both let out a sigh of relief. Just then, my phone vibrated to notify me that I have received a message.

[JasonTheCoolKid] Peek-a-boo where r we? Come and look at XXXXXXX. If u can't find us by the end of today, the boy gets home with a bloody face.

I felt my grasp on my phone tighten.

_XXXXXXX?! That's so vague! How on Earthland were we supposed to find Jason in such a big city?!_

Natsu seemed to have noticed my anger and he placed his hands on my shoulder.

"Don't worry, I'll find him." His onyx eyes gazed into mine as he assured me.

Nodding, we both got off the bed and Natsu made his way back to his room to get ready while I got ready in mine. When we stepped out of our respective rooms, both of us registered each other's dress code and chuckled at the similarity.

He was wearing loose and ripped jeans matched with a white shirt and black leather jacket topped with a brown knit hat while I wore long tight jeans paired with a pink shirt and white leather jacket topped with a similar brown knit hat with a furry ball at the tip of the hat.

Recovering from the humour, we quietly made our way out of the house leaving a note saying we'll be out with friends for Igneel. It was quite cold out today since it was still quite early in the morning and it caused me to recalling something. I told Natsu to wait for me while I made an extra trip to my room. When I came back down, Natsu had already got out a striking red bike from the courtyard and pulled it to the front porch. I couldn't help but stare at him wide eyed.

"You coming?" He asked with a raised brow.

I hesitantly climbed on the bike while asking.

"Won't you get motion sickness?"

Letting out a smirk, Natsu started the bike.

"I took the motion sickness pills before leaving my room."

But before he could speed off, I stopped him.

"Wait!"

He paused. I took out the scarf I got him for Christmas and wrapped it around his neck.

"It's cold today." I explained and he just stared at me wide eyed.

When he didn't say anything, I put on a warm smile and continued, "Merry Christmas, Natsu."

He immediately swung his head back to face the front before commanding, "Hang on tight!"

I let out a yelp when Natsu began speeding off without giving me time to grab onto him, well I still did in the end so I guess it was okay.

* * *

**Natsu's P.O.V**

When we reached the city, it was already 7:08 in the morning. Lucy suggested we park the bike and travel on foot since the traffic would soon get horribly heavy and I complied since whatever she said seemed to make more sense than I ever would. Getting off the bike, we stretched a bit before making our way to the streets that were considerably empty since most of the shops weren't even open yet and I blindly followed Lucy since she seemed to know what to do. However, curiosity got the better of me when we entered a nearby 24/7 convenience store and I grabbed her by the arm to get her attention.

"What are we doing here?" I asked in a hushed voice.

"To buy a map." She hissed at me for what I presume would be my tight grip before continuing. "You don't know this area very well do you?"

I gulped. I honestly couldn't deny that. While she was looking through a bunch of tourist maps, I went to the food sections to grab some snacks we could munch on and some drinks while I was at it. I know it is wrong, but I couldn't help but feel excited with all this happening. Ever since I broke up with Lisanna, it actually became less awkward around Lucy and we were finally able to hold normal conversations and even hang out again like that library trip. Recalling the trip only made my cheeks heat up again as I recalled what happened while we were walking back home but as I gazed at Lucy's back, I couldn't help but recall her pained expression while she was sleeping.

_"It was nothing. Just some... bad memories."_

"Bad memories huh..."

What could've been so bad? Was it her father? Her mother? Or...

Before I could think more, Lucy pat me on my back, garnering my attention.

"I got the map." Then, gaze shifting to my hands, she continued, "What's that?"

Raising an eyebrow, I thought I'd tease her.

"Food and drinks. Didn't you know? They provide the essential nutrients necessary to sustain-"

She elbowed me before I could continue.

"I know that much! I'm asking what are they for!" She yelled, face flushed with what I'm presuming anger for my stupidity.

Arms wrapped around my stomach to dull the pain, I chuckled a little.

"Sorry. I thought I'd get us some snacks to chow on while we look for Jason. It wouldn't be pretty if our tank ran on empty at the most crucial point."

Lucy nodded with a look of surprise on her face. This time, I raised my brow due to genuine curiosity.

"What?"

"You're a lot smarter than I thought.

Oh hell no.

Growling, I gritted my teeth.

"Oh really? Just how stupid did you think I am?"

Laughing, Lucy swirled around on her heel and faced the cashier.

"Stupid enough to be unable to read."

Recalling our conversation in the library, I face-palmed.

"I thought you didn't understand that." I countered.

Placing all the items on the stand, we continued our debate while the cashier just sweat-dropped.

"I didn't. Until you hogged the book for 3 days and I was convinced." Turning to face me, she continued, "Congratulations, you convinced me."

When we stepped out of the store, I took out the pocket-sized book and tossed it to her. Clumsily catching it, she flashed me a puzzled look before proceeding to analyze it.

_Agatha Christie: Death on the Nile_

Looking up to me, her puzzled expression was replaced with fake pride and tears.

"Y-you finally managed to read."

I was only barely able to hold back my fist.

"You-!"

"Okay, enough fooling around, lets find somewhere to analyze the map and eat while we're at it."

"You love it don't you?! You love to make me feel stupid and foolish don't you?!"

"That... I can't deny."

"DENY DAMNIT!"

After our little banter, we started looking around for a café to settle in and as I scanned the area that was starting to pick up in activity, I spotted a rather suitable place.

"How 'bout that?" I asked as I tugged on Lucy's sleeves and nodding my chin towards a manga café.

Lucy's faced beamed as she saw it.

"Yeah!"

* * *

**Narrative**

It was 8:30 am and the two teens had settled in nicely at the manga café; half eating, half analyzing the map. Well, technically, Natsu was doing more eating than analyzing but it couldn't be helped; he honestly couldn't read maps.

Lucy had a pink highlighter in hand as she marked out the border of the city and it was really large. She then had a blue highlighter highlight their location in the map; they were near the center of the city. However, that was it. It was the best that she could do and she had no other clue what-so-ever on where best to search. It would be suicidal to literally search the whole city for Jason with just the two of them but she tells Natsu to do it anyway. While searching, Natsu maintained contact with the girl in order for her to cross out the searched area. Sadly, the boy came back 1 hour later claiming he was at his limits (Not due to the distance he had to cover but the crowds of people that were making it difficult to travel).

Sighing, the blonde told the pinkette to tell her where he had covered in order to cross out those areas with the blue highlighter.

Natsu stared at the distressed girl for a moment before handing her a box of Pocky. Weakly waving it away, the girl turned back to the map.

Frowning, Natsu grabbed his phone and stood up once more, earning the girl's curious glance.

"What are you doing?" She asks.

"What does it look like? I'm gonna look around one more time."

A little taken aback, the blonde stared at the boy wide eyed before smiling appreciatively.

"Thanks."

Turning away with a slight blush, the boy replied.

"You better be."

Setting out for another round of hell, Natsu looked around and the only thing he met were waves and waves of people.

*ring*

Hearing his phone ring, he hopped out of the crowd to pick his phone up.

"Hello?!" He asked with voice slightly raised above the sound of the crowds.

"Natsu? Where are you?"

"I-I'm not sure! There are too many people! I can't find or see the street sign!"

Natsu heard a soft curse at the other end of the line before hearing the girl jump in eureka.

"That's it!"

"That's what?"

"Why didn't I see it before?! With so many people, holding a hostage in such crowded areas would be near suicidal!"

Natsu raised both brows in embarrassment.

_Why didn't I think of that?!_

"So where do I go?!" Natsu questioned, voice continuously raised above the noisy streets as he checked his watch, it was 12 noon.

"You could start with-"

*Beep*

Natsu checked his phone for the sudden cut off to realise how his phone had shut off by itself due to the lack of batteries.

_Drats_

He cursed as he looked around. He was about to return to Lucy to get his instructions but he stopped himself when he found a convenience store and strutted in. Walking towards the maps section, he quickly scanned the shelf for a map book. He started flipping through the pages without registering anything and just as he was about to give up, he saw a heading that caught his attention.

_I see... that's why he picked this city..._

* * *

**Gajeel's P.O.V**

James threw a punch aimed head on against Luke. That was a stupid move against a pro like him but I guess it's because of that that it shows their difference in skills. Luke dodged, letting him crash into the playground's swing and the others cheered for Luke, laughing at James while they were at it.

"James!" I called out calmly as I continued to smoke off my cigarette.

When the boy stopped and looked to me, eyes filled desperation, I continued.

"That's enough. You don't have to try anymore."

In that instance, his desperate gaze turned to a frustrated one as he dropped it to his feet. Everyone jeered and laughed at him and I felt something in me boil slowly. James was one of the green ones in this gang. He never really had any guts to join gang fights but he had that strong and firm loyalty that makes you let him follow you wherever you go. Ever since I saved him from an enemy gang mug, he never stopped following me. But recently, other gangs started aiming for him because he was the weakest among us all so boss told him to either man up or get out.

"But-" His voice was strained and in pain, as though he was about to cry.

I took in a deep breath and sighed before continuing.

"You're out."

Gritting his teeth, James grabbed him bag and turned to me.

Bowing, he screamed a, "Thank you for everything!" and ran off.

Luke waved the rest of the gang away before coming to my side.

"You sure that was a good choice? He was your favorite wasn't he?"

"Tch. What favorite? If you're weak you're out. That's the rule boss set and there are no exceptions." _Besides, this isn't the life for him._

"Oh~ Boy am I glad to hear that." A familiar yet foreign voice spoke.

I turned to the owner of the voice to see Natsu gazing back at me, eyes lit with fury as a smirk stretched from one end of his face to the other.

"That means if I beat everyone here today..." He continued as he scanned the crowd of faces who had already picked up their weapons. "...Then you lot will have to quit this stupid game of charade you call a gang!"

The moment he was done with his sentence, everyone in the gang pounced. I just stood there dazed as I saw him punch and kick his way through the crowd. When the big guy, Dave, grabbed him from the back, Natsu headbutt Ken who was about to stab him before kicking Dave in his shin to make him let go. Just as he was released and turned to Dave, Luke went up from his back to smack him hard with a steel pipe but was knocked to the ground when Natsu dodged and gave the man a roundhouse kick. Picking up the fallen pipe, he smashed it into Dave's head since he was getting up and Dave's body went limp. I'll have to check for a lot of pulses later.

Before I knew it, it was just me and him.

"Where's Jason." Natsu demanded instead of asking. This time, rage gracing his face.

Hesitating for a while, I made a brief jolt of my head towards the slide before answering.

"Under the slide."

Taking a short and quick glance at the slide, he slowly let out a breath and straightened himself, eyes that were narrowed to a slit never leaving mine. He was obviously ready to rip my heart out.

"Good. Now, lets talk." He finally said.

I took off my jacket and let it drop to the ground as I brought my fist in front of me and bent a bit, getting into a battle stance.

"I hope you meant with our fist."

Flames started licking his fist as it tightened into a stiff ball.

"Hell yeah."

* * *

Wow, this is the first time I actually hit 3000+ words O.O Thx for all who waited patiently and I hope the length of this chapter made up for the duration I was gone T^T I really appreciate all who have reviewed, favorited and followed me! XD LOVE Y'ALL! Review =3


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